Santiago.- The Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of Santiago will hear this Tuesday the request for coercive measures against the main individuals involved in Operation Onco14, a case that has shaken the health sector after the revelation of an alleged corruption scheme that reportedly diverted millions of pesos intended for the treatment of cancer patients at the Cibao Regional Oncological Institute (IORC).
The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested 18 months of pretrial detention and the declaration of a complex case against Héctor Antonio Lora Cruceta, former president of the Cibaeño Cancer Board; Luisa Yasiris Guzmán, president of the Tócate RD Foundation-Shelter House and wife of the main defendant; and Dilcia Isabel Vargas Sánchez, former vice president of the board and ex-wife of Lora Cruceta.
According to the case file, the defendants allegedly led a criminal structure that operated for several years, embezzling resources from the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa), funds that were intended to guarantee medications, treatments, and medical services to low-income cancer patients.
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The investigation maintains that the network executed multiple fraudulent maneuvers, including falsification of medical documents, use of fake stamps, alteration of clinical indications, double billing to the State, incomplete delivery of medications, commercialization of drugs donated for free, and diversion of public funds.
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Likewise, the prosecuting body asserts that the alleged structure engaged in smuggling operations using tax exemptions, trafficking of controlled substances, irregular expense reimbursements, use of medical facilities for aesthetic procedures, computer sabotage, theft of digital files, and money laundering.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the companies Vargas Lora & Asociados, currently named Vargas Guzmán Accounting Center, and the Fundación Tócate RD-Casa de Acogida were allegedly used to move resources obtained illicitly.
Authorities maintain that the scheme not only caused millionaire losses to the Dominican State, but also directly impacted cancer patients who depended on services financed by the SeNaSa subsidized regime, affecting access to essential treatments to preserve their lives.
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The defendants were arrested during raids carried out by the General Directorate of Prosecution, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (PEPCA), and the Santiago Prosecutor’s Office, with support from the National Police and the Criminal Investigation Unit (UIC). During the interventions, cash, vehicles, a firearm, electronic equipment, property titles, and documents considered relevant to the investigation were seized.
The file indicates that Lora Cruceta assumed the presidency of the Patronato Cibaeño Contra el Cáncer in October 2018 for a two-year term, but remained in office until October 2025, a situation that, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, allowed her to consolidate control of the institution and execute the operations under investigation.
The defendants face charges of criminal association, fraud against the State, bribery, high-tech crimes, illicit access to computer systems, and money laundering.
With the request for pretrial detention and the declaration of the case’s complexity, the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeks to ensure the preservation of evidence, prevent potential flight risks, and deepen investigations into an alleged network that reportedly converted resources intended for cancer patients into a source of illicit enrichment.
