SANTO DOMINGO.- A National District court acquitted the defendants in the case of the bank Bancredito, after the Justice Ministry dropped the fraud charges against its ex president Manuel Arturo Pellerano and senior executive Juan Felipe Mendoza.

In a Monday morning hearing Collegiate Court 2nd Penal Chamber Presiding judge Ingrid Fernandez handed down the ruling after the Justice Ministry desisted from its claim.

The lawyers for Pellerano and Mendoza Arístides Trejo, Luz Diaz, Napoleón Estévez and Claudio Stephen petitioned the court to declare the acquittal, citing several provisions of the Penal Procedural Code.

To formally retire the accusation, National District Assistant prosecutor Narciso Escaño noted that the Central Bank and the Banks Superintendent had desisted from continuing the civil suit after reviewing the agreement reached between the bankers and the plaintiffs.

Detailing the agreement, the Assistant Prosecutor noted that even though the damage was caused to society and hast yet to be fully repaired, Pellerano and Mendoza cannot be held accountable, and instead the responsibility of the Central Bank officials as made public at that time, which escapes the court’s jurisdiction.