Santo Domingo.– With the entry into force of the new Criminal Code, Any person who is condemned by Illicit enrichment will remain disabled for life To occupy public positions, whether elective or by designation.
This was warned on Thursday by the Attorney General of the Republic, Yeni Berenice Reynosoduring a conference on transparency advances that imply the new Criminal Code and the recently approved Public Purchasing and Procurement Law. The event was held at the General Directorate of Customs (DGA).
During his speech, Reynoso referred to the recent cases that have placed the government in the eye of the hurricane, such as the Irregularities reported in it National Student Welfare Institute (Inabie) and in him National Health Insurance (SENASA). In that sense, he said that corruption directly impacts the population.
“The corruption It is transversal to the development of peoples. When an act of corruption is committed, funds that must go to Public health, They don’t go; funds that must go to Educationthey don’t go; funds that must go to security, do not go. So who is the victim of acts of corruption? Society, ”he said.
Reynoso explained that the Illicit enrichmentnow recognized as an autonomous criminal type, allows The confiscation of the assets acquired illicit and the Permanent disqualification of the convicted person to occupy public office. This means that this crime is no longer necessary to depend on other criminal figures to be prosecuted.
He also stressed that the new code contemplates the criminal responsibility of legal persons, which allows also to persecute and sanction companies involved in acts of corruption, including their possible dissolution.
“Currently, there are dozens of companies that face judicial processes that could lead to their disqualification as providers of the State. And this does not exclude the individual responsibility of officials or people behind those businesses,” he said.
Among the most important news From the new criminal frame, Reynoso mentioned the Manipulation of payments in public works Like a new criminal type. This behavior includes intentional alteration of contracts to benefit individuals and harm the State.
“When money is used of the State to buy or hire, There are rules. And breaking them is stealing the people, ”he warned.
In that context, he detailed some of the most frequent crimes in the field of public hiring such as the Adjudicate contracts without contest (by finger), the mAnipulate prices purchases and sales, pay for non -existent goods or services, Be a judge and part in a contractand Provide false information to gain tenders.
All these acts will be typified as crimes in the new Criminal Code and could involve sanctions between 3 and 10 years in prisonbeing aligned with the Money Laundering Law.
The Attorney General stressed that this new regulatory framework strengthens the State’s ability to prevent, investigate and punish corruption, aligning with the United Nations Convention against Corruption and international standards in public integrity.
In the activity were the general director of Customs, Eduardo Sanz Lovatón (Yayo); the director of government ethics and integrity, Miracles Ortiz Bosch; The attached attorney Osvaldo Bonillaand the legal manager of the DGA, Óscar d’Elloo Seiffe.
