NEW YORK, NY. (The Continent Times) Donald Guerrero, a Dominican businessman, economist, and professor, who served as the nation’s former finance prime minister, has been charged with fraud against the state.
According to the justice dept. of the Dominican Republic, Guerrero allegedly defrauded the nation with millions of dollars. Between the many forms of schemes Guerrero is accused of, the case “Hacienda,” for its name in Spanish, which means ranch or plantation, is perhaps the most infamous case for which the former prime minister is in real legal jeopardy. In Hacienda, Guerrero and other high-rank politicians of the former presidency of Danilo Medina, allegedly ran a scheme in which they’d steal millions of pesos owned by the state to several Dominican families.
The total amount defrauded is still being investigated, though, by now it surpasses $100 million US dollars.
During the scheme, Guerrero would authorize hundreds of transactions and forms of payment for the families to which the Dominican state owed money to, except that instead of paying these families – most of which were working class – he’d pocket the money for himself and only give them around 1 to 15 percent of the cash invoiced, and in some instances, if he and his pals felt being generous that day, they’d go up to around 40 percent, pocketing a 60 percent or more, according to sources.
It is the first in modern Dominican History that white collar crime is being actively prosecuted. Under the presidency of Luis Abinader, who promised in his campaign to elect an independent justice dept. which would fight against institutionalized corruption, especially white collar crime.
Guerrero is not the only high-rank former prime minister in jail for fraud, former minister of Public Works and Communications, Gonzalo Castillo, who ran for president in 2020, is also under custody, accused of having defrauded the nation with millions of US dollars.