NewsWhore
12-18-2009, 01:30 PM
The District Attorney says that a major crime ring that forged land and property titles has been broken up and its members placed under arrest.
The ring, which consists of judicial system employees, including an auditor of the Supreme Court of Justice and a colonel in the National Police, is accused of cheating baseball player Julio Lugo out of RD$50 million and other people out of sums totaling tens of millions of pesos with forged property titles, mostly for public lands, located in the country's tourist areas.
The National Police chief himself, Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin, took part in the arrests, personally arresting Supreme Court auditor Giovanni Santana. A press conference, held by National District chief prosecutor Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, was also attended by National Titles Registry director Wilson Gomez Ramirez. The prosecutor reported that they are dealing with a powerful gang that included professional counterfeiters, military personnel and employees of the Property Courts and the Supreme Court.
Edwin Baquero, who was also arrested, has a case pending together with another person for falsifying a title to a plot in the Las Praderas neighborhood and swindling ballplayer Julio Lugo. Also arrested were Walter Lendor and Edwin Sanchez, employees of the Property Jurisdiction department. The Judicial Branch employees involved in the case, who were fired, are accused of providing logistical support to the whole operation. Lawyer Carlos Vasquez Parra was also arrested and the authorities are on the trail of Oliver Fiallo and Henry Melenciano.
The Judicial Branch employees were arrested at their workplaces, while Baquero was apprehended in his residence. The prosecutor says that they have confiscated documents proving Baquero's direct connections with the criminal organization that he led. Vasquez was arrested in his law office. Moscoso Segarra asked the National Police chief to suspend Lieutenant Colonel Luis Emilio Gutierrez, who he is accusing of forming part of the gang.
Property registrar Wilson Gomez said that the network of alleged forgers had altered notaries' signatures, stolen documents and used public information obtained through the Judicial Branch computers for many years. "The crimes that these people committed depended on the active participation of people within the institution," said Gomez. The falsified documents belonged to state entities such as the General Administration of National Assets (Bienes Nacionales), the National Housing Bank (BNV), the Department of Taxes (DGII) and even Presidential decrees.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
The ring, which consists of judicial system employees, including an auditor of the Supreme Court of Justice and a colonel in the National Police, is accused of cheating baseball player Julio Lugo out of RD$50 million and other people out of sums totaling tens of millions of pesos with forged property titles, mostly for public lands, located in the country's tourist areas.
The National Police chief himself, Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin, took part in the arrests, personally arresting Supreme Court auditor Giovanni Santana. A press conference, held by National District chief prosecutor Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, was also attended by National Titles Registry director Wilson Gomez Ramirez. The prosecutor reported that they are dealing with a powerful gang that included professional counterfeiters, military personnel and employees of the Property Courts and the Supreme Court.
Edwin Baquero, who was also arrested, has a case pending together with another person for falsifying a title to a plot in the Las Praderas neighborhood and swindling ballplayer Julio Lugo. Also arrested were Walter Lendor and Edwin Sanchez, employees of the Property Jurisdiction department. The Judicial Branch employees involved in the case, who were fired, are accused of providing logistical support to the whole operation. Lawyer Carlos Vasquez Parra was also arrested and the authorities are on the trail of Oliver Fiallo and Henry Melenciano.
The Judicial Branch employees were arrested at their workplaces, while Baquero was apprehended in his residence. The prosecutor says that they have confiscated documents proving Baquero's direct connections with the criminal organization that he led. Vasquez was arrested in his law office. Moscoso Segarra asked the National Police chief to suspend Lieutenant Colonel Luis Emilio Gutierrez, who he is accusing of forming part of the gang.
Property registrar Wilson Gomez said that the network of alleged forgers had altered notaries' signatures, stolen documents and used public information obtained through the Judicial Branch computers for many years. "The crimes that these people committed depended on the active participation of people within the institution," said Gomez. The falsified documents belonged to state entities such as the General Administration of National Assets (Bienes Nacionales), the National Housing Bank (BNV), the Department of Taxes (DGII) and even Presidential decrees.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)