The businessman claims he owes more than RD$32 million to developers and suppliers.
SANTO DOMINGO - In response to the complaint filed on July 28 by businessman Luis Beltré regarding an alleged multi-million dollar fraud that supposedly led to the eviction of 16 families from the Coco Beach residential project in Bávaro, the Schiffino Vargas Consortium stated yesterday that these accusations are unfounded, after accusing Beltré of owing more than RD$32 million to suppliers and developers.
In a statement sent to El Inmobiliario, the company being accused asserted that the debt corresponds to outstanding commitments to the project's developers and suppliers, which, according to the consortium, have been repeatedly ignored by Beltré.
“Mr. Beltré has irregularly sold the apartments that belonged to him, making multiple sales of the same unit to different people,” the company stated in the press release, alleging that this alleged scam has triggered actions that have affected legitimate buyers.
According to the written statement, unable to respond to the buyers claiming their properties, Beltré is resorting to unsubstantiated accusations to deflect attention from his financial and legal responsibilities. "Today, unable to respond to these people, he is trying to divert attention with unfounded accusations," the statement said.
“Mr. Ángel Schiffino is not willing to accept any further losses resulting from his defaults. Until he honors his debt to the builders, Mr. Beltré will not be able to recover or transfer the units he has already sold and collected payment for, without having paid the developers,” warned the Schiffino Vargas Consortium.
He denied that the Public Prosecutor's Office had shelved Beltré's complaint. "The Public Prosecutor's Office, under Mr. Beltré's orders, carried out two raids, the second of which involved breaking down doors and changing the locks of the units under its jurisdiction," he emphasized.
According to the Schiffino Vargas Consortium, "Mr. Beltré's intention is not to pay, to obtain the benefit of the construction and also to sell the units, keeping all the profits.".
The case
The alleged irregularity attributed to civil engineer Ángel Carlos Schiffino Peralta, which amounts to more than RD$142 million 801 thousand 200, would have caused more than 16 families, mostly Dominican pensioners and active military personnel from the United States, to be arbitrarily evicted, Beltré stated at a press conference held on the esplanade of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) on Monday, July 28.
The complainant alleges that half of the 40 apartments were his property, claiming to have sold 14 legally. However, he states that his buyers were subsequently evicted by Schiffino without a court order, in what he describes as a "Dantesque operation.".
"The way they were expelled was brutal, violating all legal and decent norms. It was as if they had no rights, as if their investments were worthless," denounced the lawyer, who yesterday visited the Public Prosecutor's Office to request the expediting of a complaint filed with the National District Prosecutor's Office, which, according to what he told the media, has been stalled for more than five months.
For his part, Blas Abreu, the affected parties' lawyer, explained that these diaspora investors acquired the properties "in good faith," trusting in the legality of the real estate project and relying on seemingly valid titles. "Many bought with lawyers, investigated, and validated the documents. Everything appeared to be in order. Mr. Luis Beltré was even credited with 50% of the project, that is, 20 units. And those 20 were the ones he sold legitimately," he stated.
According to Abreu, 50% of those affected currently reside in the Dominican Republic, most of them retired after years of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, while the other half remain on active duty. "These are families who decided to come and live out their retirement peacefully, in a place that represented the fruit of decades of effort," he stated.
