Bankers convicted of fraud that crippled Dominican economy
22/10/2007 15:46
A Dominican tribunal yesterday sentenced two bankers to 10 years each
on charges linked to a 2.2-billion-US-dollar fraud that triggered an economic
crisis four years ago in the country.
Ramon Baez Figueroa, former president
of the now defunct Banco Intercontinental, or Baninter, was fined US$1.9 million
besides the 10-year sentence, for charges related to debt write-offs and
sweetheart loans to leading politicians.
He has been the first official
convicted in connection with Baninter's collapse in May 2003. Baez had
maintained his innocence in the case throughout the trial that began in April
2006.
The bank's financial adviser, Luis Alvarez Renta, was convicted of
money laundering. He was fined US$18,000 and sentenced to 10 years in
jail.
Marco Baez Coco, Baninter's former vice president, was convicted of
fraud, but remains to be sentenced. Charges against two other defendants were
dismissed for lack of evidence.
In 2003, after the central bank bailed out
Baninter, annual inflation soared to 30 percent, and the collapse of the peso
led to downfalls of two other large banks. The Republic had to borrow US$600
million from the International Monetary Fund to cover the
crisis.
Investigations following the meltdown of Baninter found US$1.5
billion in undeclared asset and the discovery made it the largest bank in the
country.
Xinhua
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