Former Finance Minister Guerrero Ortiz to face trial for RD$19,000 million fraud
The Public Ministry has accused former minister Ángel Donald Guerrero Ortiz and 34 other defendants of defrauding the Dominican State for more than RD$19,000 million.
Trial for Operation Squid: former finance minister faces charges of massive fraud
The Public Ministry of the Dominican Republic presented its opening argument this week before the Third Collegiate Court of the National District against former Finance Minister Ángel Donald Guerrero Ortiz and dozens of co-defendants, according to infobae.com. The prosecution alleges that the investigated structure defrauded the State for more than 19,000 million Dominican pesos—equivalent to approximately USD 322,101—to the detriment of taxpayers.
Deputy prosecutor Wilson Camacho, general director of Prosecution at the Public Ministry, led the presentation. "This criminal structure used the State as an instrument, corruption as a method, profit and retention of power as its objective," Camacho said when opening the proceedings.
Mirna Ortiz, head of the Specialised Prosecution Unit for Persecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), also participated, along with prosecutors Rosa Ysabel, Miguel Collado, Miguel Crucey, Jhensi Víctor, Melbin Romero, Rosa Alba García, Arolin Lemos and Elvira Rodríguez.
Allegedly fraudulent mechanisms
During the hearing, Ortiz presented the conclusions of the prosecution and detailed the methods that, according to the Public Ministry, the defendants allegedly used. These include supposed irregularities in payments for expropriations, recognition of debts without lawful cause, and credit assignments used to transfer public funds to people and companies that were not their true recipients.
"The Public Ministry will demonstrate that certain credit assignments were used to transfer public funds to people and companies that were not the true recipients," Ortiz stated before the court.
The head of Pepca maintained that the investigation has testimonial and expert evidence that will be presented during the trial. "In light of the conclusiveness of this evidence, this court will have to condemn each of the defendants with the sentences that we will request in due course," she stated.
According to the prosecution, the resources allegedly obtained irregularly would have been hidden or incorporated into the assets of the beneficiaries through operations intended to conceal their origin. The Public Ministry also points to the use of individuals as alleged shell figures and commercial companies that disappeared once their function was fulfilled. Part of the assets acquired, the prosecution adds, was not declared to the Central Electoral Board.
Thirty-five accused sent to trial
The case stems from Operation Squid, an investigation for which the Public Ministry obtained approval in May to proceed to trial against 35 of the 40 initially charged defendants. Along with Guerrero Ortiz are, among others, lawyer Ángel Lockward, former comptroller Daniel Omar de Jesús Camacho Santana, former director of the State Sugar Council (CEA) Luis Miguel Piccirillo McCabe, director of Cadastre Claudio Silver Peña and former director of Casinos Julián Omar Fernández Figueroa.
Also sent to trial were Prinseca Alexandra García Medina, Luis Miguel Piccirilo, Yahaira Brito Evangelista, Edwin Oscar Brito, Mabel Mejía, Nathaly Hernández Guzmán, Kimberly Vásquez Martínez, Marino Cabrera, Agustín Mejía Ávila, César Santana, Omar Miqui Arias, Alejandro Constanzo Sosa and Juan Tomás Polanco Céspedes, among others.
The court postponed the next hearing to 24 September 2026 at 09:00. The proceedings will continue with the presentation of evidence and arguments by the parties. The defendants maintain their right to defence and to the presumption of innocence until there is a final judicial decision.
Source: Google News DO — Crime