Preventive imprisonment and house arrest for 24 defendants in SeNaSa corruption network
A National District court imposed coercive measures on 24 people linked to a corruption network that diverted public funds from the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa).
Judge imposes coercion on 24 accused of fraud in SeNaSa
The Judicial Office of Permanent Care Services in the National District imposed preventive imprisonment, house arrest and financial guarantees on 24 people linked to a corruption network that diverted funds from the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa), as reported by ultimasnoticias.com.do. The measures were ordered on Sunday, 27 September by judge Rigoberto Sena, who had reserved his ruling since the previous Friday. The hearing began shortly after 9:00 p.m. and concluded around 10:00 p.m.
The case was brought before the courts as part of Operation Cobra 2.0-A. The First Instruction Court of the National District was designated as the tribunal overseeing the process, which was declared to be of complex proceedings. The mandatory review of the coercive measures was set for 22 December 2026.
Camacho: "The investigation does not conclude here"
Deputy Prosecutor Wilson Camacho, head of the General Directorate of Prosecution, led the Public Ministry's litigation team alongside Court Prosecutor Mirna Ortiz, head of the Pepca; prosecutor Héctor García and prosecutors Rosa Alba García, Ernesto Guzmán Alberto, Emmanuel Ramírez and Yudelka Holguín.
Camacho described the decision as recognition of the strength of the investigation. "This is now a recognition by the judge of the strength of the Public Ministry's investigation and, to us, that decision seems to be a reasonable one," he stated to the press.
Regarding the scope of the case, the official warned that investigations continue: "The investigation into what happened at SeNaSa does not close, does not conclude with this investigation and we will pursue more."
Camacho also made a direct appeal to the medical profession: "Lending codes can drag them into criminal proceedings. If the 22 doctors who were prosecuted in this case had not lent their codes, this case would not have existed." He proposed that the experience should serve as the basis for a campaign targeting doctors on the risks of providing their codes to third parties.
Who was detained
Preventive imprisonment, to be served at the Correction and Rehabilitation Centre (CCR) Las Parras in San Antonio de Guerra, was imposed for 18 months on Angeury Guzmán, Starky Atahualpa Arturo Rodríguez Nova, Wander Díaz and Juan Henry Poueriet. The same measure, to be served at CCR Najayo Mujeres, applied to Ysabel Heredia Vallejo, Hanna Rashell Rodríguez Almánzar, Elsa Evelyn de la Rosa Vásquez and Laura Altagracia Santana Evangelista.
House arrest was imposed on Heidy Coronado, Lucreisy Polanco Núñez, Einstein Rafael Borromé Valdez, Carlos Job Ynoa Olivero, Engels Federico Díaz Mendoza, Rafael Mauricio Cabral González, Marcelino Eusebio Figuereo, Víctor Felipe Rodríguez García and Ray Ernesto Mercedes Lugo.
Additionally, the court ordered a financial guarantee of 2 million pesos, through an insurance company, together with a ban on leaving the country and house arrest, for Luz Esther Reyes Durán de Ramírez, Edwin Alberto Batista Cruz, Griselda Altagracia Basora Ramírez, Keila Beatriz Acosta Leonardo and Juan Gabriel Rodríguez Ravelo.
Martha María Saldaña Saldaña was imposed a financial guarantee of 3 million pesos, also through an insurance company, plus a ban on leaving the country and house arrest. José Díaz Hernández, Guillermo Enrique Dicló Garabito and Yocaira Antonia Méndez Beltré received a guarantee of 1 million pesos, a ban on leaving the country and periodic attendance requirements.
Background: Operation Cobra and charges brought
The case has as its direct background Operation Cobra, through which the Public Ministry arrested in the previous year Santiago Marcelo F. Hazim Albainy, former director of that institution, as well as Gustavo Enrique Messina Cruz, Francisco Iván Minaya Pérez, Germán Rafael Robles Quiñones, Rafael Luis Martínez Hazim, Ramón Alan Speakler Mateo, Cinty Acosta Sención, Heidi Mariela Pineda Perdomo, Eduardo Read Estrella and Ángel Luis Guzmán Vásquez.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy of officials, breach of duty, criminal association, bribery, fraud against the Dominican State, embezzlement, forgery, use of false documents and money laundering. The Public Ministry is seeking criminal penalties and the seizure of thousands of millions of pesos diverted from the state treasury.
The investigations point to a systematic corruption scheme installed from SeNaSa's executive direction, in conspiracy with internal officials and with the participation, in criminal association, of health service providers. The evidence gathered includes large-scale bribery, alterations of financial statements and special programmes without legal basis used to divert funds through fraudulent manoeuvres.
As an extension of the investigation lines, the Public Ministry launched Operation Onco14 in June last, which resulted in new arrests linked to the same institutional network.
Source: Google News DO — Santo Domingo