Lawmakers bribed RD$20M to vote for Medina’s reelection bid: Testimony

Santo Domingo.- Prominent attorney Carlos Balcácer on Tuesday said government officials are bribing lawmakers with up to RD$20.0 million to vote to amend the Constitution to pave the way for president Danilo Medina’s reelection bid.

He said Elias Piña senator Adriano Sanchez Roa and deputy Ruben Maldonado, both spokesmen of the ruling PLD party, have offered up to RD$20.0 million and the party’s guarantee of their candidacies.

The deputies, according Balcacer’s testimony before the Supreme Court, received between RD$20.0 million and RD$7.0 million.

Balcácer and co-plaintiff Gregory Castellanos ask the Justice Ministry to launch a criminal investigation into the alleged illegal actions of the officials and senior PLD leaders Felix Jimenez, Jose Ramon Peralta, Gonzalo Castillo, Francisco Javier Garcia and Temistocles Montas.