Spanish
Santo Domingo.- At the request of the Public Ministry, the Fourth Instruction Court of the National District ordered the sending to trial of former Minister of Finance Donald Guerrero Ortiz and lawyer Ángel Lockward and their companies, as well as other 33 people accused of defrauding the Dominican State of more than RD$19 billion pesos through an administrative corruption structure investigated with Operation Calamar.
Deputy Attorney Wilson Camacho, head of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, highlighted as a triumph in the fight against corruption and impunity that 35 out of 40 people have been sent to trial. However, he considered that all 40 defendants should go to trial to answer for the crimes they are accused of.
In that sense, he announced that the Public Ministry will appeal the non-suit rulings issued by the court in the case of José Ramón Peralta, former administrative minister of the Presidency, and Gonzalo Castillo Terrero, former Minister of Public Works, and 3 other defendants.
Among those sent to trial are also: Princess Alexandra García Medina, Luis Miguel Piccirilo, Yahaira Brito Evangelista, Edwin Oscar Brito, Mabel Mejía, Nathaly Hernández Guzmán, Kimberly Zayas Martínez, Marino Cabrera and Agustín Mejía Ávila. Also, César Santana, Omar Miqui Arias, Claudio Silver Peña, Alejandro Constanzo Sosa, Juan Tomás Polanco Céspedes and Julián Omar Fernández Figueroa.
You can also read: José Ramón Peralta obtains dismissal in Calamar case
"First of all, the decision issued by the court today refers to 40 accused people, including natural and legal persons; 35 of them have been sent to trial, including the case of Ángel, Donald Guerrero, who is the operational axis of this criminal structure," Camacho told journalists from the judicial source who approached him after Judge Altagracia Ramírez issued the ruling. Judge Altagracia Ramírez rejected the defense's requests to declare the nullity of the file and the termination of the criminal action. The court issued some orders not to proceed to trial for five people, and, from now on, we can tell you that the Public Prosecutor's Office is going to appeal that decision," he advanced. "And we are going to appeal it because from the mere reading of the decision in the court, it is evident that the court entered into an erroneous assessment of several pieces of evidence," he underlined. In that sense, he said that the court accepted the testimonies of Ramón Emilio Jiménez (Mimilo), Fernando Crisóstomo and José Antonio Ureña. "Those same testimonies, in the court's own words, and it is recorded in the hearing; the court did not refer to them when it issued these dismissals; therefore, it did not properly assess this evidence." "The court even issued a dismissal for one of the accused who, in a document provided by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the court, wrote their name in their own handwriting, for six people, including some who were deceased." It is evident that the court contradicts itself, in disregard and in erroneous assessment of the evidence in relation to these dismissals it granted, and that is the reason why the Public Prosecutor's Office is going to appeal them," he emphasized. “I believe it is necessary to repeat that these events occurred in the Ministry of Finance. And the Minister of Finance at that time is being sent to trial in this process along with 34 other people,” specified the Director General of Prosecution. Furthermore, he added, “that leaves the Public Ministry with a case in which it offered sufficient evidence for them to be sent to trial and they are being sent to trial.” The decision that sends 35 defendants to trial was adopted by the court, establishing that the Public Prosecutor's Office incorporated sufficient evidence that compromises the criminal responsibility of the accused in acts of administrative corruption within the criminal network dismantled with Operation Calamar. The team that represented the Public Ministry in the litigation was headed by Deputy Prosecutor Wilson Camacho along with prosecutors Rosa Alba García, Melbin Romero, Jhensy Víctor, Miguel Crucey, Arolin Lemos, Elvira Rodríguez and Rosa Ysabel Mejía.The case file had been in a state of judgment on March 27, 2026. That day, the debates were closed and all parties were summoned for Friday at 3:00 in the afternoon to hear the decision. The hearing began after 7:30 p.m. on Friday and concluded after 11 p.m.
The court delivered the sentence in digital format to each of the parties. Due to the lateness of the hour, Judge Ramirez gave a succinct reading of the most important points.
