As soon as Danilo Medina reached the Presidency of the Republic on August 16, 2012, Juan alexis medina Sánchez saw the opportunity of his life within reach and took advantage of it to profit irregularly at the expense of the funds of the Dominican State, according to the Public ministry.
Says the Specialized Prosecution Office of the Corruption Administrative (Pepca) that Juan alexis medina he used his condition as brother of the president to create a network of companies with the sole objective of participating in state tenders.
In his strategy, he was very lucky. Allegedly, he used figureheads and frontmen to act as the owners or partners of the more than 21 companies that they used to participate in the tenders in which, almost always, they came out winners, the authorities establish.
“The criminal actions of theft of funds from the criminal organization affected the public health system, education, citizen security through the National Police, the electrical energy system (through EDEEST and the UERS), road safety, the socio-economic order, the national elections of 2016 and 2020, through the illicit financing of electoral campaigns with the funds of the reformed state companies”, specifies the accusation presented by the Public ministry.
RD$23,000Millions
The Dominican State became the plaintiff and civil plaintiff to obtain compensation for RD$23,903,465,542 for damages in the Antipulpo case.
Juan alexis medina and his companies had a tentacle in each of the aforementioned institutions and in others, the indictment states. Its level of influence in state organizations was such that it came to have more power than the incumbents, as in the case of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State Works (OISOE).
For these reasons, the Pepca researchers decided to nickname alexis medina as “The Octopus”, and by way of consequence the Anti Octopus Operation was executed to cut or remove the tentacles of Alexis and the members of the network from the institutions).
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That morning, the Public Ministry launched the Anti-Octopus Operation, in which they arrested Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez and his sister Carmen Magaly Medina Sánchez, in addition to eight other defendants.
29 November 2020
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The Public Ministry intensified the raids on residences and companies, in addition to other arrests of former officials, privileged suppliers and “front men” related to the network of administrative corruption that took advantage of political power to enrich themselves.
December 3, 2020
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After several hearings, Judge José Alejandro Vargas declared the case complex and imposed a coercive measure on the group made up of ten defendants at that time.
December 8, 2020
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The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Persecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) requested an extension of four months from the Third Court of Instruction of the National District to present the accusation against Alexis Medina and the other defendants for corruption and money laundering.
3 August 2021
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Giving continuity to the Anti-Octopus Operation, the Public Ministry carried out 20 raids in different places for the Anti-Octopus case.
September 1, 2021
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Pepca deposited the accusation of the extended Antipulpo case. It included new defendants and facts. The preliminary hearing will be known this Monday, January 7, 2022.
17 December 2021
the preliminary
All these accusations against John alexis medina They must be supported by compelling evidence before the judge of the Seventh Investigating Court of the National District in charge of knowing the preliminary stage or trial of the evidence.
The judge in charge of the case, Deiby Timoteo Peguero Jiménez, will have the responsibility of studying the volume of evidence presented by the Public ministry and the evidence released by the parties, and determine if the case goes to trial on the merits, where the guilt or innocence of those submitted will be determined.
But not only will the evidence supporting the accusations against alexis medina Sánchez, because there are 27 people that Pepca accused of corruption on the record Anti Octopus Operation.
The accusation includes Carmen Magaly Medina Sánchez as accused, who allegedly also took advantage of her family ties and her position as vice president of the Patrimonial Fund of Reformed Companies (Fonper) “to commit crimes within the framework of corruption of which his brother served as operational manager alexis medina Sanchez”.
Also accused are Fernando Rosa, who directed the Fonper; Wacal Vernavel Méndez Pineda and José Dolores Santana Carmona. Also Francisco Pagán Rodríguez, former general director of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State Works (OISOE), and Aquiles Alejandro Christopher, inspector of that state unit.
The accusation includes Julián Suriel Suazo, Lorenzo Wilfredo (Freddy) Hidalgo Núñez, who was Minister of Public Health; the former Comptroller General Rafael Antonio Germosén and Domingo Antonio Santiago, among others.
network maneuvers
The accusation provides evidence of how the corporate framework linked to alexis medina Sánchez benefited from an advantageous relationship with the State, while at the same time allocating millionaire funds through the “Tornado Fuerzas Vivas” movement for various political candidates of the then ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), including campaigns of Danilo Medina Sánchez and Gonzalo Castillo.
The file says that the framework of corruption of the Medina Sánchez brothers came to materialize fraudulent maneuvers using false qualities, adulterated documents, high-cost overvalued medications, false drivers, paid and undelivered medications, overpriced equipment, equipment of inferior quality to that contracted and paid by the State.
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Officials will serve as witnesses
To corroborate some of the acts of alleged corruption included in the indictment Anti Octopus Operation, Pepca will present as witnesses a group of former officials and current government officials. The current officials who will testify to the stand took an active role in the investigation.
Andres Astacio
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Among the witnesses offered by the Public ministry In his accusation is Andrés Astacio Polanco, who is Executive Vice President of the Electricity Distribution Companies and Secretary of the Unified Council of the Electricity Distribution Companies.
Astacio filed a complaint on June 15 of last year with Pepca, after conducting an internal investigation and discovering “a mafia structure” that stole public funds during the past administration, headed by Luis Ernesto de León Núñez (husband of Magaly Medina Sánchez ).
Participated in the alleged fraud Juan alexis medinaJulián Esteban Suriel Suazo, Messin Elías Márquez Sarraff, Wacal Vernavel Méndez Pineda, Domingo Antonio Santiago, Miguel Antonio Reyes, Miguel Ángel de la Cruz, Juan Francisco Marte, Pedro Antonio Féliz, José Dolores Santana, José Antonio Peralta, Manolo Santana Medrano and Angela Marquez Sarraf.
Rubén Jiménez Bichara, Rubén Montás Domínguez, Radhamés del Carmen Maríñez, Juan alexis medina Sánchez, Peter Alexis Francisco Tejada, Dileisi de Jesús Rivera, Julio César Correa, Maxy Gerardo Montilla Sierra, and Alexander Montilla Sierra; these last brothers of the former first lady Cándida Montilla and brothers-in-law of Danilo Medina.
Carlos Pimentel
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Another of the officials who will be a witness in the Pulpo case is Carlos Pimentel, the general director of Public Procurement. La Pepca says that Pimentel will testify about contradictions found in the administrative resolutions of the OISOE to contract the companies of the El Pulpo network.
Joseph Florentine
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Likewise, José Florentino was offered as a witness of the Public ministry in his capacity as president of the Fonper to explain about the irregularities found in the Fonper upon his arrival, starting in October 2020. In this case, Pepca specifies, these irregularities are attributable to the defendants Fernando Rosa and Carmen Magaly Medina Sánchez .
Jose Rijo Presbot
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The General Director of the Budget, José Rijo Presbot, will also witness Pepca at the Anti-octopus case. He will do so as an expert in budgeting and public finances to explain the organization and structuring of public finances, from the formulation of budgets to their execution, and how to control budget execution.
Rafael Paz Family
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Rafael Paz Familia, who served as CONEP’s representative before the Fonper board of directors, will also testify. He will testify that “he never knew directly the allocations allocated to the Women for the Development Foundation of San Juan de la Maguana, since he only saw the budget in a general way, as well as the way in which the meetings of the Council and its objections to transfers of very significant sums of funds from Fonper to the Executive Power.
Cesar Dargam Espaillat
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He was a member of the board of directors of Fonper, representing Conep, and was offered as a witness for the Public ministry in the Antipulpo accusation to explain the composition of the council, its powers, the form and type of budget that was approved by the council. As well as any other relevant fact that is known to you about the irregularities found in the Fonper.
Pepca has said that it will remain firm in its fight against corruption.
