Frente Amplio welcomes arrest in SeNaSa case and demands that all those responsible be held accountable

Santo Domingo. – The Frente Amplio welcomed the arrest of the former director of the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa), Santiago Hazim, his nephew Rafael Martínez Hazim, and businessman Eduardo Read, who were arrested as part of the extensive investigation being carried out by the Public Ministry into an alleged corruption scheme that had allegedly operated for years within the institution. The political organization considered that these arrests represent “an important step in the fight against corruption, in a case where serious administrative irregularities, misappropriation of public funds, parallel accounting, irregular payments to private providers, bribes and multimillion-dollar programs without control or identified beneficiaries have been reported. “More are missing, and everyone involved must fall.” The FA warned that these three arrests do not represent the entirety of the alleged scheme and recalled that there are other officials, former officials, and private sectors that would have actively participated in the corrupt structure that plundered resources destined for the health of the Dominican people.

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“These arrests cannot be the end point. People are still missing here, and they all must fall. The country knows that this case involves political and business interests that for years have used SeNaSa as a source of illicit enrichment, while restricting the access of affiliates to services, despite the constant increase in per capita,” expressed the Frente Amplio. María Teresa Cabrera stated that the SeNaSa case is “one of the most serious examples of how a political and economic elite turns the State into a private estate, stripping the people of fundamental rights and shamelessly violating institutionalism”. He recalled that the complaints include: Misappropriation of millions of dollars through “medical points” favoring private centers, Payments of more than RD$4,000 million to a supplier not authorized to deliver medications, a nutrition program for older adults with an estimated execution between RD$4 and RD$6 billion, without a verifiable list of beneficiaries. In addition to, duplicate invoices, bribes and a parallel accounting structure to hide irregular operations. The organization reiterated its demand for exemplary sanctions, without privileges or political shielding, and denounced that several of those involved have been relocated to other public positions, which evidences “protection from the high structures of power.” “Justice must be pursued to the ultimate consequences. We will not accept mutilated files, nor those responsible protected by their political or business ties,” concluded Maria Teresa Cabrera.