Public Ministry claims to dismantle with solid evidence allegations of former ministers involved in the Calamar case

The Public Ministry initiated the replication phase this Friday in the preliminary hearing of the process for the alleged embezzlement of more than RD$19,000 million to the detriment of the State, assuring that it has managed to dismantle with conclusive evidence the arguments presented by the defenses of former ministers Donald Guerrero, Gonzalo Castillo and José Ramón Peralta, among other defendants. Court prosecutor Mirna Ortiz, head of the Specialized Prosecution of the Administrative Corruption (Pepca), stated that during the day the accusing body presented evidence that contradicts the arguments presented by the defense lawyers. "With irrefutable evidence, specific to the process, we have been dismantling each of their arguments one by one," Ortiz stated upon leaving the Fourth Instruction Court of the National District, where the case is being heard.

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The magistrate stated that the Public Prosecutor's Office has managed to demonstrate inconsistencies in the defense's arguments, pointing out that, in her opinion, isolated data has been used with the intention of discrediting the accusation both in court and before public opinion. During his intervention before Judge Altagracia Ramírez, Ortiz requested the rejection of the incidents aimed at excluding evidence that, according to his explanation, were obtained in accordance with the law. He also questioned the use that the defenses have made of the metadata, calling it incorrect and tending to confuse. The process is part of Operation Squid, launched in 2023, through which the Public Ministry dismantled an alleged network that had diverted public funds through irregular payments for expropriations of land declared of public utility and bribes destined, according to the accusation, to the financing of the 2020 electoral campaign.

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The file includes 46 natural and legal persons accused of criminal association, embezzlement, collusion of officials, falsification of public and private documents, bribery, illicit campaign financing, and money laundering, among other charges. The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday, February 18th at 9:00 a.m.