Santo Domingo.– The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) reported that it will appeal a judicial decision ordering the Public Ministry to pay more than RD$7.5 million for a telephone device seized from a defendant in the administrative corruption case involving Hugo Beras, Jochi Gómez, and other accused individuals.
The prosecution stated that the decision contains serious procedural flaws and was issued in favor of Juan Francisco Álvarez Carbuccia, despite the fact that Judge Patricia Alejandra Padilla Rosario, head of the Second Instruction Court of the National District, was no longer in charge of the case as of October 24, 2025.
As explained by Pepca, on that date the file was transferred to the Sixth Instruction Court of the National District, the court that heard the preliminary hearing and subsequently issued an order to open a trial.
Prosecutors Jonathan Pérez and Miguel Collado pointed out that the magistrate had allegedly incurred in a distortion of the figure of the astreinte by setting a sum that, they maintain, is disproportionate and intends to become compensation in favor of a defendant for corruption.
“We received notification of the decision on Thursday and we have 20 days to file an appeal,” reported Pérez, who recalled that the case involving Álvarez Carbuccia will be heard by the Third Collegiate Court of the National District, with a hearing scheduled for next August 11.
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The Public Ministry representative added that the court currently seized of the case would also lack jurisdiction to hear the claim related to the telephone equipment, because it is not an administrative jurisdiction.
The judicial decision establishes the payment of RD$7,560,000.00 in favor of Álvarez Carbuccia as a settlement for an astreinte related to several assets that have already been delivered to the defendant. The claim also includes a Samsung S3 brand phone, whose market value is around RD$3,000.
Álvarez Carbuccia is listed as a defendant in the case in which Hugo Beras facilitated, while he was directing the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant), fraudulent awards to companies without technical capacity and participated in the manipulation of the traffic light network and the video surveillance system, according to the indictment.
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While José Ángel Gómez Canaán is identified as a beneficiary of fraudulent contracts with Transcore Latam, Dekolor, and PagoRD Xchange, and responsible for the control of traffic light systems, video surveillance, and technological espionage, in addition to the sabotage of the Greater Santo Domingo traffic light network.
The case file states that Juan Francisco Álvarez Carbuccia issued false budget availability certifications for Intrant.
The others are being prosecuted for money laundering, acting as front men, and sabotage of the traffic light network, as well as crimes of bid rigging and decisions by the Procurement Committee to favor companies within the corruption scheme, and for facilitating technical control of the traffic light network and the falsification of certifications.
Regarding legal entities, the indictment establishes that they were used for fraudulent contracts and control of the traffic light network, among other illicit acts.
At the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the group was sent to trial on June 5, accused of engaging in money laundering, embezzlement, criminal association, and committing fraud to the detriment of the Dominican State, as well as sabotage, identity theft, and engaging in high-tech crimes and offenses and the use of private documents. They were also accused of smuggling and violation of the Arms Law.
