Antipulpo Case: Know the Condemned and Acquitted

Santo Domingo.– The Second Collegiate Tribunal of the National District issued its verdict early this Thursday in the Antipulpo case, imposing prison sentences, suspended sentences, and acquittals in one of the most relevant corruption trials of the last decade in the Dominican Republic. The main defendant, Alexis Medina Sánchez, brother of former President Danilo Medina, was sentenced to seven years in prison for bribery, money laundering and association of wrongdoers. He must serve his sentence at the Najayo-Hombres Correctional Center.

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In the same sentence, the court sentenced Francisco Pagán, former director of the Oficina de Ingenieros Supervisores de Obras del Estado (OISOE), to five years of suspended imprisonment, after accepting an agreement with the Public Ministry. In addition to Alexis Medina, the court imposed various sentences on others involved in the scheme. Víctor Matías Encarnación Montero received five years of suspended imprisonment and a fine of RD$500,000. José Dolores Santana Carmona was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in Najayo-Hombres, while Wascar Bernabé Méndez will serve five years in the same facility. In the case of Paola Molina Suazo and her husband, Martín Monte de Oca, both were sentenced to five years in prison, which they will serve in Najayo-Mujeres and Najayo-Hombres, respectively. These sentences, according to the court, respond to their direct participation in maneuvers that facilitated the obtaining and irregular handling of public funds. For her part, Carmen Magalys Medina Sánchez, Alexis’s sister and former president of the Patrimonial Fund of Reformed Companies (Fonper), was acquitted of the charges, as was Fernando Rosa, former director of Fonper, and other defendants.

About the case

The Antipulpo case was filed in November 2020 by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (PEPCA). According to the indictment, Alexis Medina headed a business network that, taking advantage of his political and family ties, obtained millionaire contracts from state institutions such as the National Police, the National Health Service and other entities, through rigged tenders, overvaluations and irregular payments. The investigation indicates that these operations generated illicit millionaire profits, which were laundered through commercial companies and movable and immovable property, significantly affecting public funds.