An investigation presented in Bajo el Foco, supported by an audit from the Comptroller General of the Republic, revealed multiple irregularities in the personnel administration of the Ministry of Energy and Mines during the period between September 2020 and April 2021 during the tenure of Antonio Almonte Reynoso, currently the Consul General of the Dominican Republic in Boston
The report states that 429 employees, equivalent to 90 percent of the payroll reviewed, were listed as absent during working hours according to attendance reports. Furthermore, during a physical validation conducted by the audit commission, only 172 of the 477 public servants registered on the payroll presented themselves to the auditors.
The audit also identified RD$57.8 million in additional payrolls and retroactives that were not published on the Transparency Portal, more than RD$10 million paid to 118 employees who held positions not contemplated in the Job Manual approved by the Ministry of Public Administration, and 18 civil servants with salaries above the authorized scales. Among these cases is César Domingo Sánchez Torres, who earned RD$275,000 per month as coordinator of the minister’s office, despite the fact that the maximum authorized salary for that position was RD$90,000.
The investigation by Bajo el Foco also reviewed the payroll for 2026 and confirmed that four employees identified by the audit for appearing on the payroll without attending work continue to work at the institution.
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This concerns María Magdalena Ramírez, who appeared in the audit as a receptionist with a salary of RD$25,000 and was flagged for not showing up to work. She currently appears as a Human Resources technician with a salary of RD$50,000.
Also appearing is Wilfrin Carmona Romero, flagged by the Comptroller’s Office for not attending work while holding the position of coordinator of the Directorate of Environmental and Social Affairs with a salary of RD$100,000. He currently appears as a systems analyst in the IT Security and Monitoring Department, with the same remuneration.
Another case is that of Rossana Amparo Paniagua, also pointed out for not attending work when she served at the institution. Today she holds the position of Institutional Development analyst and her salary went from RD$70,000 to RD$85,000 per month.
Likewise, Alexis de Jesús Rosa Jáquez, who was noted by the audit for appearing on the payroll without attending work when he was a facilitator with a salary of RD$40,000, currently appears as an electrician at the Renewable Energy Theme Park, maintaining the same remuneration.
The audit also documents the case of Alejandro Zacarías Jiménez, who between November 2020 and February 2021 received salaries from two public institutions simultaneously, accumulating RD$1.1 million in just four months. The report adds that since 2008 he had received more than RD$62.1 million from the State and that, in different periods, he managed to collect from two and even three institutions at the same time.
