Santo Domingo. – The Third Collegiate Court of the National District is scheduled to begin the trial on the merits this Tuesday against the former director of the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant), Hugo Beras; José Ángel Gómez (Jochi Gómez) and the other defendants in the so-called Chameleon case.
The judicial process revolves around an alleged irregular awarding of the contract intended to modernize the traffic light network of Greater Santo Domingo.
The hearing is scheduled to begin with the reading of the indictment presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, provided that the defendants’ lawyers do not raise any incident that prevents the formal start of the trial.
During the process, the prosecuting body will seek to obtain convictions against those involved, including Beras and Gómez, as well as Pedro Vinicio Padovani Báez, former head of the Traffic Control Center.
Also accused are Samuel Gregorio Baquero Sepúlveda, former Director of Technology at Intrant; Frank Rafael Atilano Díaz Warden, former Dispatch Coordinator and representative of Beras before the Procurement Committee; and Juan Francisco Álvarez Carbuccia, Administrative and Financial Director of the institution.
More Read
The file also includes Carlos José Peguero Vargas, Mariano Gustini, Manuel Eduardo Mora Vázquez, and Henry Darío Féliz Casso.
Companies included in the file
Several commercial companies identified by the Public Ministry also appear in the process, including Transcore Latam S.R.L., Aurix S.A.S., Inprosol S.R.L., OML Inversiones S.R.L., PagoRD Xchange S.R.L., Industria Soltex Dominicana S.R.L., and Dekolor S.R.L.
According to the accusation, some of these companies allegedly obtained contracts and agreements considered irregular, through which they were allowed to access resources and operations linked to the State.
More Read
The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that those commercial relationships served to facilitate an alleged scheme of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, in addition to compromising aspects related to technological security and the operation of state infrastructure.
The indictment places Jochi Gómez as one of the main figures within the alleged scheme. The prosecuting body points out that Gómez allegedly has corporate, financial, and operational ties to several of the companies mentioned in the file.
We recommend reading: Merits trial against Hugo Beras and Jochi Gómez for the Chameleon case set for August 11
According to the Public Prosecutor’s thesis, those connections would have allowed for the articulation of a structure that allegedly operated through contracts with the State and would be related to crimes such as fraud against the State, money laundering, and technological sabotage.
The trial on the merits will allow the parties to present their evidence and arguments before the judges of the Third Collegiate Court of the National District, who must evaluate the elements provided during the course of the proceedings.
