Santo Domingo.– The Public Ministry (MP) accused former prosecutor Jean Alain Rodríguez and his co-defendants of resorting to delaying tactics to postpone the start of the trial against them, in which they are being prosecuted for allegedly embezzling the State of more than 6,000 million pesos during his tenure at the Attorney General’s Office (2016-2020).
Court attorney Mirna Ortiz, litigation coordinator of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), denounced that the defense of the accused once again caused the suspension of the hearing, this time alleging ignorance of the order to open the trial issued by the Court of Appeals of the National District, which reinstates the accused Juan Azael Martínez to the file.
“En el día de hoy, como siempre, el Ministerio Público estaba listo para la presentación de la acusación. No ha sido por responsabilidad nuestra que este proceso no haya iniciado. Más que un alegado derecho de defensa, lo que existe es una clara táctica dilatoria”,
expresó Ortiz.
The magistrate recalled that this is the fourth time the hearing has been postponed due to incidents raised by the defense. She emphasized that the charges against the defendants remain based on the same facts and evidence presented since the beginning of the process.
The case is known by judges Claribel Nivar, Yissell Soto and Clara Castillo, of the Second Collegiate Tribunal of the National District, and has a new hearing date of September 22nd.
The defendants
In addition to Jean Alain Rodríguez, the file includes Alfredo Alexander Solano Augusto, Jhonatan Joel Rodríguez Imbert, Javier Alejandro Forteza Ibarra, Rafael Antonio Mercedes Marte, Miguel José Moya, Braulio Michael Batista Barias, Alejandro Martín Rosa Llanes, Ramón Lucrecio Burgos, Jhonatan Loander Medina Reyes, Isis Tapia, Félix Antonio Rosario Labrada, Francis Ramírez Moreno, Rolando Rafael Sebelén Torres, César Nicolás Rizik Pimentel and José Luis Liriano Adames, among others.
The charges against him include administrative corruption, bribery, embezzlement, fraud against the State, and money laundering.
The referral to trial was ordered on June 29, 2023, by Judge Amaury Martínez, of the Third Instruction Court of the National District, after establishing the existence of multiple acts of corruption committed in the Attorney General’s Office during Rodríguez’s administration.
In total, the accusation covers 41 individuals and 22 companies identified as part of the corruption network.
