The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Judicial District of Duarte requested the imposition of preventive detention for the lawyer Joel Carlo Román, accused of leading a network dedicated to real estate fraud, falsification of documents and money laundering, through front companies to deprive owners of their assets in different provinces of the country.
According to the indictment filed by prosecutor Benedicto Reynoso, the organization operated through the companies Ventanas del Mar, SRL and Epic Worldwide Enterprises, SA, which were established to carry out fraudulent schemes against individuals and companies.
The case file details that Román and his co-defendants pretended to be legitimate buyers of real estate, offering minimal down payments and signing preliminary sales agreements with no intention of fulfilling them.
Subsequently, they initiated fraudulent legal proceedings, using forged documents and impersonating others, in order to obtain judicial transfers of property titles without having completed the payment.
Among the victims is the company SOSCAB 2010, SRL, who were defrauded in the purchase and sale of a plot of land in Cabarete, Puerto Plata, valued at US$530,000, of which only US$25,000 was paid.
The same scheme would have been applied against Juanico Alonzo Alonzo and Lesbia Mercedes Balbuena de Alonzo, confirming the repetition of criminal operations.
The Public Prosecutor's Office requested the imposition of three months of preventive detention, to be served at the Vista del Valle Correction and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco de Macorís, while investigations continue into the network that allegedly operated in Santiago, Puerto Plata and Duarte.
The prosecuting body indicated that investigations are ongoing to identify other possible individuals involved in the money laundering and real estate fraud scheme.
