Top Dominican prosecutor upbeat on US$100M+ embezzlement case

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Monday affirmed he’s confident that the Supreme Court Criminal Chamber will overturn the writ of habeas corpus in favor of senator Felix Bautista, and six others indicted on money laundering and of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Court ruled against the prosecution’s appeal to overturn the decision, and scheduled the next hearing for 9am Tuesday June 30 at the 2nd Criminal Chamber, headed by justices Miriam German, Frank Soto and Esther Angelan.

"A very broad appeal has been filed with serious and important legal basis, of great importance not only for this case in particular, but for all the work comprising the prosecution of corruption and money laundering in general," the official said adding that the case will set a precedent against impunity in the country.

"We’re very positive and confident that justice will prevail this time, that the all citizens are equal before the law will be the message, and that the irregular use of public funds will be punished,” Dominguez said, quoted by eldia.com.do.

On March 27 Supreme Court Special Instruction judge Alejandro Moscoso ruled in favor of Felix Bautista and José Elías Hernández, Bolívar Antonio Ventura, Carlos Manuel Ozoria, Grisel Araceli Soler, Soraida Abreu Martínez and Bienvenido Apolinar Bretón, citing a lack of strong evidence against the defendants.