The former director of the National Institute of Traffic and Land Transportation (Intrant), Hugo Beras was arrested last night, after a trespass to his residence that lasted more than two hours, reported his lawyer Laura Acosta.
Hours before, businessman José Ángel Gómez Canaán, alias Jochi, was arrested in the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Administrative Corruption (Pepca), after being interrogated for more than four hours.
The arrests occurred within the framework of an investigation into the contract signed during Beras’ administration with Gómez’s company, Transcore Latamfor the modernization, expansion, supervision and management of the comprehensive system of the Traffic Control Center and the Greater Santo Domingo Traffic Light Network.
Prosecutor Héctor García led the trespass in Beras’ house, according to Acosta, who complained that the representatives of the Public Ministry refused to show the minutes of trespass or the order of arrest against his client.
“Hugo was arrested, but they did not show us a search or arrest report”Hugo Beras lawyer
“This could have been a correct act, but (the prosecutors) refused to show us the minutes of arrestNor did they ask Hugo to sign the minutes of trespass Neither do I,” said the lawyer.
Acosta complained, alleging that the actions of the Public Ministry were “a totally abusive unnecessary“. “It was enough for them to allow their lawyers to come up to see the judge’s orders and assist him. It is a right constitutional. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has the power to raid and arrest whoever it sees fit, but NEVER to prevent them from being assisted by their lawyer“he added.
The lawyer stated that the evidence seized by the prosecution have no legal value, because it is understood that they raped the rights of his client.
what he said Hugo Beras
After more than a year of having required a leave of absence from his position as director of the Intrant for alleged irregularities in the traffic light system contract that the official institution signed with the company Transcore LatamBeras participated yesterday in the Zol de la Mañana program in which he gave details of the process and commented that he was “collateral damage”, in addition to having stated that the State control systems failed, referring to the General Directorate of Hiring Public, directed by Carlos Pimentel.
1,317
million pesos was the contract that Intrant signed with the company Transcore Latam
“For one to make a tenderthe General Directorate of Hiring Public has to validate everything. To make a contract we have an internal control unit of the Comptroller’s Office that has to validate it,” he said.
He stated that “the first thing he did” was to distance himself “from everything that had to do” with Purchasing and Hiring“for a matter of responsibility“, after claiming that this is not his specialty.
The businessman José Ángel Gómez Canaán – Jochi Gómez – was detained, after being interrogated for more than four hours in the office of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) for his connection with the company he operated. the traffic light network of Greater Santo Domingo under a contract with Intrant that ended up canceled due to “serious irregularities” detected in the award process.
Gómez Canáan appeared yesterday at the headquarters of the Attorney General’s Office where the Pepca office operates, after having been summoned by the Director of Prosecution, Yeni Berenice Reynoso. It is unknown if other prosecutors participated in the interrogation.
“I came to defend myself, let’s see,” was his brief statement to the press before being taken to the Pepca office accompanied by his lawyer Hiroíto Reyes and this appearance culminating in his arrest.
Gómez Canaán is one of the owners of Transcore Latam, the company that is under investigation by the Public Ministry at the request of the General Directorate of Public Contracts (DGCP) that detected signs of activities contrary to the law such as falsification of documents, diffuse shareholding composition, suspicious movements of shareholders and defects in the contracting process that allowed this company to be awarded for more than 1,300 million pesos in June 2023.
At the time, the bidders alleged, through challenges, that the supplier chosen by the management of the former director of Intrant, Hugo Beras, did not meet the requirements and experience for the modernization, expansion, supervision and management of the comprehensive system of the Center of Traffic Control and the traffic light network.
Due to these irregularities and others detected, the DGCP indicated that it was appropriate to sanction Intrant officials and employees who did not act under due process and annulled the tender in which Transcore Latam was awarded and, therefore, the contract.
He was also disqualified from the State Supplier Registry (RPE). Although the DGCP suspended the contract a year ago, the company continued to operate the traffic light network.
Traffic light network sabotage
Gómez Canaán has recently been accused by the current director of Intrant, Milton Morrison, of sabotaging said traffic light system, which generated serious chaos in the city’s traffic on August 27, 28 and 29.
Gómez Canaán denied these accusations on his social networks.
On September 17, during Morrison’s administration, this body began the process of terminating this contract.
Background
In 2019 Gómez Canaán was accused of having perpetrated fraud on the automated voting equipment used in the primary elections of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
In 2012, Jochi Gómez was investigated for allegedly hacking 44 emails of businessmen and government officials at the time, such as Margarita Cedeño.
In 2012, several properties and offices were raided, and electronic equipment was seized. Jochi Gómez was arrested for alleged links to identity theft and illicit access to email accounts to the detriment of different personalities.
