Operation Coral: 29 convicted in Dominican military fraud scheme worth RD$4,500 million
The First Collegiate Court of the National District convicted 29 people of defrauding the Dominican State in excess of RD$4,500 million through ghost payrolls.
Thirty convicted and companies dissolved following historic Operation Coral ruling
The First Collegiate Court of the National District convicted on Tuesday, 16 June 2026 29 people for their participation in an administrative, military and police corruption network that defrauded the Dominican State in excess of RD$4,500 million (approximately 76.5 million dollars). According to infobae.com, the ruling concludes a process that formally began on 27 June 2024 and spanned nearly two years of hearings and submission of documentary and financial evidence by the Public Ministry.
The network, dismantled under the so-called Operation Coral and Operation Coral 5G, operated between 2012 and 2020, coinciding with the presidential administration of Danilo Medina. Over eight years, its leaders diverted public funds from three national security institutions through payroll manipulation: the mechanism consisted of registering people of low resources, police officers or military personnel of lower rank as employees of CUSEP or CESTUR with monthly salaries of between RD$40,000 and RD$50,000, without these individuals being required to report for work.
On payday, the State deposited the full salary into the accounts of these fictitious employees. The condition for maintaining the benefit was to return between 80 and 90 per cent of the amount in cash directly to the leaders of the organisation. The money thus collected was subsequently introduced into the financial system through shell companies and the acquisition of assets, with the aim of concealing its illicit origin.
Judges Giselle Méndez, Tania Yunes and Jissel Naranjo imposed the maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, plus payment of 400 minimum wages, on the three main masterminds of the scheme. General Julio Camilo De los Santos Viola, former deputy head of CUSEP, and pastor Rossy Maybelline Guzmán Sánchez received prison sentences of 15 years, in addition to substantial fines.
Prison sentences of 10 years were handed down against key operational figures: Army General Boanerges Reyes Batista, Lieutenant Colonel Kelman Santana Martínez, Navy Captain Franklin Mata Flores, Police Major José Manuel Rosario Pirón and bank employee Esmeralda Ortega Polanco, who facilitated transactions within the financial system.
Major Raúl Alejandro Girón Jiménez, whose active collaboration with the Specialised Prosecution for the Persecution of Administrative Corruption (PEPCA) revealed in detail the mechanism of money distribution, received a reduced sentence of five years in recognition of his testimony.
The court issued acquittal judgements for six of the defendants, including Tanner Antonio Flete Guzmán, son of pastor Guzmán Sánchez, and the legal entity of the Eternal Life Baptist Church, considering that the evidence was not sufficient to establish their direct criminal responsibility.
In addition to the personal convictions, the court ordered the immediate dissolution of multiple companies used for money laundering. The full reading of the sentence has been scheduled for 14 August 2026.
Source: Google News DO — Crime