NewsWhore
11-15-2011, 05:30 PM
Due to the level of cooperation for dealing with organized crime between the two nations, the Dominican Republic has become the fourth leading country in the world in extraditing foreigners to the United States, said US Attorney General, Eric H. Holder.
Holder gave a ten-minute speech in the Caryatides Room of the Presidential Palace yesterday in which he covered the issue of the judicial cooperation between the United States and the Dominican Republic and its impact on organized crime. President Leonel Fernandez was in the audience.
During his visit to Santo Domingo, the US Attorney General and his Dominican counterpart, Prosecutor General Radhames Jimenez Pena, signed a case-specific agreement to share approximately US$7.5 million of an estimated US$37.5 million in forfeited assets in a Medicare fraud case. The United States expects to recover an additional approximately US$30 million in forfeited assets as part of the agreement.
"Today's signing ceremony marks the fourth time in 10 years that America's government has recognized n through asset sharing n the remarkable forfeiture assistance that Dominican authorities have afforded to the United States," Attorney General Holder told the press in Santo Domingo.
"As we look to the future, I am confident that we'll be able to build on this strong record of partnership, and that the scope of our collective efforts will only continue to grow."
The agreement represents approximately 20% of the estimated US$37.5 million in forfeited assets located in the Dominican Republic that stem from a conspiracy led by brothers Carlos, Luis and Jose Benitez, who allegedly defrauded the US Medicare program of approximately US$80 million.
The US Marshals Service is working with its Dominican counterparts to liquidate the complex assets. The assets include more than 30 commercial and residential real estate assets, most of which are income-producing properties, including a water park, a soft drink distribution center, multi-unit motel complexes and waterfront condominium apartments, most in northern Punta Cana.
The assets involved were ordered forfeited by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida as part of two civil forfeiture cases filed in that district. The Benitez brothers were charged criminally in June 2008 in the Southern District of Florida by prosecutors from the Justice Department's Criminal Division and US Attorney's Office in Miami, as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and remain fugitives. They are suspected to be in Cuba. The Department of Justice asks that anyone with information about their location should contact the FBI.
The Department of Justice reports that the agreement represents "the opening of an historic new chapter in the strong record of law enforcement cooperation that has long defined the relationship between these two nations."
Additional information on the case-specific agreement can be found at www.blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1743 (http://www.blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1743) or at justice.gov (http://justice.gov)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
Holder gave a ten-minute speech in the Caryatides Room of the Presidential Palace yesterday in which he covered the issue of the judicial cooperation between the United States and the Dominican Republic and its impact on organized crime. President Leonel Fernandez was in the audience.
During his visit to Santo Domingo, the US Attorney General and his Dominican counterpart, Prosecutor General Radhames Jimenez Pena, signed a case-specific agreement to share approximately US$7.5 million of an estimated US$37.5 million in forfeited assets in a Medicare fraud case. The United States expects to recover an additional approximately US$30 million in forfeited assets as part of the agreement.
"Today's signing ceremony marks the fourth time in 10 years that America's government has recognized n through asset sharing n the remarkable forfeiture assistance that Dominican authorities have afforded to the United States," Attorney General Holder told the press in Santo Domingo.
"As we look to the future, I am confident that we'll be able to build on this strong record of partnership, and that the scope of our collective efforts will only continue to grow."
The agreement represents approximately 20% of the estimated US$37.5 million in forfeited assets located in the Dominican Republic that stem from a conspiracy led by brothers Carlos, Luis and Jose Benitez, who allegedly defrauded the US Medicare program of approximately US$80 million.
The US Marshals Service is working with its Dominican counterparts to liquidate the complex assets. The assets include more than 30 commercial and residential real estate assets, most of which are income-producing properties, including a water park, a soft drink distribution center, multi-unit motel complexes and waterfront condominium apartments, most in northern Punta Cana.
The assets involved were ordered forfeited by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida as part of two civil forfeiture cases filed in that district. The Benitez brothers were charged criminally in June 2008 in the Southern District of Florida by prosecutors from the Justice Department's Criminal Division and US Attorney's Office in Miami, as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and remain fugitives. They are suspected to be in Cuba. The Department of Justice asks that anyone with information about their location should contact the FBI.
The Department of Justice reports that the agreement represents "the opening of an historic new chapter in the strong record of law enforcement cooperation that has long defined the relationship between these two nations."
Additional information on the case-specific agreement can be found at www.blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1743 (http://www.blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1743) or at justice.gov (http://justice.gov)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)