Dominican leader faces yet another government scandal

Santo Domingo.- A senior leader of the pro-government PRSC party on Wednesday accused State-owned Housing Bank director Federico (Quiqui) Antún of taking his year’s entire of RD$12.0 million in advance, and that he has copies of the checks to prove it.

Humberto Salazar, who has worked in various government posts for years, and currently heads the Health Sector Reform Commission (CERSS), said he assumes Antun “blackmails” president Danilo Medina’s Administration

“So I ask my friend, president Danilo Medina, and (Banks superintendence) Rafael Camilo to act and explain to the country what occurred with the Housing Bank’s funds."

Salazar’s accusation comes just hours after Antun, also president of the PRSC, announced a political split with the ruling party (PLD).

"What I’m saying is that checks in the millions were written in December, one of them for more than 12 million pesos on behalf of Mr Federico Antún Batlle and I have a copy of that," revealed Salazar.

"This has to be done before we talk about politics and all that kind of nonsense which is nothing more than clownishness," for which he refuses to be part of an institution which succumbs to it.

The also physician reiterated that he has all the papers that show how the Housing Bank’s funds were dilapidated, for which de won’t let Antun to now "come with a newspaper headline saying that the PRSC breaks with the PLD when none of the officials resign."

Interviewed on Derecho as Saber, the PRSC leader noted that the Housing Bank’s unrecoverable loans top RD$1.3 billion, “and most of those funds will not be collected because and will have to be assumed by the (State-owned)Reservas Bank."

Salazar said the situation violates all banking rules. "We all know how difficult it is for them to explain how they handle other people’s money… and then attempt to keep a person who has yet to provide explanations as to what took place there."

The latest denouncement adds to the mounting scandals in the Administration headed by Medina, whose once squeaky clean reputation has been eroding just into his second year in office.