Coercion control hearing for former Cancer Patronage executives postponed again in Santiago
A Santiago court postponed for the second time a hearing against three former officials of the Cibao Patronage Against Cancer, under investigation for an alleged diversion of National Health Insurance funds.
Coercion control hearing for former Cancer Patronage executives postponed again in Santiago
The Permanent Attention court of the Santiago judicial district, presided over by judge Stefani Reyes Santiago, postponed until 23 June the review of the precautionary restriction weighing on three individuals accused of diverting resources from the National Health Insurance through the Cibao Patronage Against Cancer.
The case, known as Onco XIV, was unable to proceed this Friday because the legal representatives of Víctor Antonio Lora Cruceta—one of the defendants—failed to attend the court hearing. The absent lawyers were identified as Juan Francisco Consoró Rodríguez and Luis Guillermo Gómez. The magistrate issued them a formal warning for non-appearance.
Lora Cruceta, who directed the Patronage, is accused alongside his current wife, Yasiris Guzmán, former president of the Tócate RD-Casa de Acogida Foundation, and his ex-wife, Dilcia Isabel Vargas Sánchez, who served as internal auditor of the cancer-care entity.
The prosecutor in the case, Mirna Ortiz, stated that the Public Ministry maintains its readiness to sustain the measure once a new date is set. She also warned that the Specialised Directorate for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption plans to carry out further raids and expects new arrests.
Authorities maintain that the defendants would have mobilised around three thousand seven hundred million Dominican pesos from Senasa, engaging in irregular manoeuvres to profit from said funds.
Before entering the courtroom, Lora Cruceta expressed to the media that he trusts in a favourable outcome. His wife, for her part, described the defendants as "scapegoats". Days earlier, the former director had told the press that he was unaware of possessing great wealth: he stated, with downcast eyes, that he had no knowledge of being a millionaire while being escorted from the cells of the Palace of Justice.
Information published by Acento
Source: Google News CL — Santiago