Santiago.- Judge Yiberty Polanco, of the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of Santiago, ordered a recess this Monday until next Wednesday, June 17, at 10:30 in the morning in the hearing for the coercive measures against ten defendants accused of being part of the alleged criminal network dismantled through Operation XL526, while the defense lashed out at the case file and questioned the existence of fully identified victims.
The magistrate explained that the interruption of the hearing is due to the workload faced by the court, whose chamber operates in morning and afternoon sessions, a situation that makes it impossible to continue simultaneously with other judicial proceedings.
With this decision, the process accumulates two previous postponements and an interruption in the middle of the hearing, prolonging the definition of precautionary measures in one of the most high-profile recent cases in Santiago due to the international scope of the accusations.
During the day, the Public Prosecutor’s Office concluded the presentation of its request for coercion, while several defense attorneys presented their arguments in favor of the accused.
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The controversy intensified when the defendants’ legal representatives questioned the strength of the evidence presented by the prosecution. Lawyer Elvin Domínguez stated that the case file lacks duly identified victims and maintained that there are no documents that allow for the individualization of the persons supposedly affected by the actions attributed to the organization.
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“I have not seen the first American who says they are a victim in this process. There are no ID cards, passports, or social security numbers that allow for the identification of those alleged victims,” the jurist stated before the court.
Domínguez also called into question part of the evidence obtained during raids carried out in 2024, alleging that some of those items had been incorporated back into the current investigation.
Along the same lines, lawyer José Reinoso argued that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has based part of its allegations on copies of powers of attorney from the United States, without presenting original documents that establish a direct connection between the accused and the alleged victims.
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“There is no binding evidence to prove that any of the defendants made transfers or participated directly in the acts they are charged with,” he stated.
Reinoso indicated that several of the defendants have already offered statements before the judge and estimated that the hearing on the measure could conclude next Wednesday, once the rebuttals from the parties and the final deliberation of the court take place.
The process has been marked by delays since its inception. The first postponement occurred after the defense reported not having received the evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a timely manner. Subsequently, the hearing was suspended again due to the volume of the case file and because the lawyers claimed to have been notified only one day before the court hearing.
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According to the indictment, the defendants were part of a structure allegedly dedicated to electronic fraud, extortion, and money laundering, through operations directed against U.S. citizens. Investigations indicate that the organization operated from the municipal district of San Francisco de Jacagua, in Santiago, using technological tools and threats to obtain money from its victims.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the members of the network pretended to belong to powerful drug trafficking cartels to intimidate the affected individuals and demand payments under threats. Subsequently, the obtained resources were introduced into the financial system through maneuvers intended to hide their illicit origin.
Among those identified as alleged ringleaders are Carlos José Parra Lantigua, Eliardo Peña Almonte, Renso Darío González Almonte, Josiel Pichardo Cabrera, and Walinton Sosa Almonte, in addition to other defendants who allegedly performed strategic roles within the supposed criminal organization.
Operation XL526 included 28 simultaneous raids carried out in Santiago and Puerto Plata, with the participation of 35 prosecutors and specialized agencies, resulting in 20 people arrested.
The decision Judge Polanco makes next Wednesday could mark a turning point in a case that authorities consider one of the most significant blows against international scam and extortion networks that have operated from the northern region of the country.
