SANTO DOMINGO- Through a false contract where fixed-term certificates were opened with annual interest rates of 6 and 7%, the network implicated by the Public Ministry in the investigation of Operation Owl, took funds from the members of the Herrera Savings and Credit Cooperative INC; (COOP-HERRERA), for the purchase of properties and various goods.
This is detailed in the accusatory file requesting a coercive measure and declaration of complexity, a 223-page document presented by the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry (DIGEPEMP), based on articles 226 and 369 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Dominican Republic.
On page 21 it is explained that through a contract, Jorge Eligio Méndez and Ana Cecilia Tejada Santos opened in the name of Steven James Forde the fixed term certificate under number 17780 for an amount of twelve million pesos and 17781, 17782, 17783, 17784, for ten million Dominican pesos each, at a rate of 6% per year, with maturity on August 15, 2023, that is, 20 months.
“Also certificates 17785, 17786 for an amount of ten million pesos each, and 17787 for the amount of ten million five hundred thousand pesos, at a rate of 7%, with maturity on April 15, 2025.”.
It details that the contract establishes in its second clause that “The Herrera Savings and Credit Cooperative INC; (COOP-HERRERA), receives said funds for the sale of two million square meters (2,000,000.00) MTS2 of land in parcel no. 7, Cadastral District No. 1 and 3 Cumayasa.
“The above description refers to the property that was supposedly owned by Gabriel Santana Borsiela; however, it reveals the falsehood used by Jorge Eligio Méndez, in an attempt to give the appearance of a solid and legitimate basis to the transaction with the financial certificates, since there is no income from these concepts to the cooperative, and the ownership of the land was presented in false documents,” explains the Public Prosecutor's file.
It adds that due to the fictitious performance of the unbacked deposit certificates, transferred in the sale to Steven James Forde, IDECOOP has so far been able to identify the payment of interest in the amount of eight million six hundred sixty-eight thousand nine hundred thirty-eight pesos, which were credited to his account, but taken from the funds of the savings partners of Coop Herrera.
A second case is narrated on page 23, describing that on July 5, 2021, a promise of sale agreement was signed between Aida Carolina Báez Vásquez, Juan Antonio Ferrand Pujals, Manuel Rafael Oviedo Estrada, Leonardo Numar Ferrand Pujals, as sellers, and Gabriel Santana Borsilea, as buyer, in which the sale of the property consisting of twenty-one thousand square meters (21,000 m2) within parcel no. 23, Cadastral District 10/2nd, Higüey, La Altagracia Province, was agreed upon for the sum of two million one hundred thousand dollars.
According to the aforementioned agreement, as the file states, Gabriel Santana Borsilea was to deliver the agreed sum, divided as follows: Juan Antonio Ferrand Pujals US$ 405,000.00, Manuel Rafael Oviedo Estrada US$ 300,000.00, Leonardo Numar Ferrand Pujals US$ 405,000.00 and Aida Carolina Báez Vásquez US$ 990,000.00
“As in the other cases, the payment made by Gabriel Santana Borsilea was made in exchange for giving the sellers financial certificates in the Herrera Savings and Credit Cooperative Inc., which they must keep for a period of 48 months, and which would generate an annual interest of 7%.”.
For this transaction, an “Investment Contract and Special Regulations Fixed-Term Certificate Deposit” was signed between the Herrera Savings and Credit Cooperative Inc., represented by Jorge Eligio Méndez and Aida Carolina Báez Vásquez. Gabriel Santana Borsiela also appeared as a witness, and the transaction involved the amount of fifty-three million six hundred eight thousand Dominican pesos, at an annual rate of 7%, maturing on February 5, 2025.
A third case dated April 27, 2020, where a sales contract was made with the seller's privilege not paid between Fabio César Herrera Roa, Luci Amelia Cabral Arzeno de Herrera, as sellers, represented by César José Herrera Gutiérrez, and Gabriel Santana Borsilea, as buyer, agreeing to the sale of the property with a surface area of 2,175.49 square meters and its improvement, located within parcel no. 84-REF-321, Cadastral District No. 2/5 Casa de Campo, La Romana.
According to the Public Prosecutor's file, the sale price of the property was set at seventy-four million seven hundred two thousand two hundred fifty pesos.
“As in the previous cases, the payment method presented by Gabriel Santana Borsilea consisted of the transfer of financial certificates at Coop Herrera. In the aforementioned negotiation, in another contract, the sale of the furniture was also agreed upon for the sum of eight million three hundred thousand two hundred fifty pesos. Of this amount, 500,000.00 DOP would be paid in cash, and the remainder divided between deposits to an account at Coop Herrera and the opening of a fixed-term certificate also at Coop Herrera.”.
The investigation adds that, in compliance with what was negotiated, Jorge Eligio Méndez and Ana Cecilia Tejada Santos opened, in the name of Lucia Amelia Cabral Arzeno De Herrera, the fixed-term certificate under number 16815, for the amount of seventy-six million Dominican pesos with 00/100 (RD$ 76,000,000.00), at a rate of 7% per year, with maturity on October 27, 2021.
“From that moment on, Coop Herrera began transferring more than three hundred thousand pesos monthly to the account of Mrs. Lucia Amelia Cabral Arzeno De Herrera, as interest generated by the substantial fixed-term deposit certificate, until the time of its expiration arrived, at which point she encountered some opposition from the cooperative's management, which is why she agreed to withdraw six million pesos and renew the remainder in four certificates, numbers 17869 (DOP$ 50,000,000.00), 17870 (DOP$ 10,000,000.00), 17871 (DOP$ 5,000,000.00) and 17872 (DOP$ 5,000,000.00), with cancellation on February 1, 2023.
Due to the fictitious performance of the unbacked deposit certificates, transferred in the sale to Lucia Amelia Cabral Arzeno De Herrera, IDECOOP has been able to identify the payment of interest in the amount of seven million three hundred twenty-three thousand nine hundred forty-four pesos, which was credited to her account, and paid with the funds of the savings partners of Coop Herrera, the Public Ministry points out.
The characteristics according to the Public Prosecutor's Office
The “criminal structure”, as defined by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, responded exclusively to the president of the cooperative, who later became the General Administrator, placing family members and people of extreme trust in the board of directors, credit management, general management, auditing, and the various administrative areas, allowing him to manage the members’ funds as if they were his own property.
“Loan restructurings were simulated on a monthly and annual basis to make the balances appear positive in the cooperative's financial statements, but the reality is that the installments on these loans were never paid,” the report emphasizes.
“Luxury goods (villas, high-end vehicles, yachts, etc.) were acquired using as a method of payment financial certificates without guarantee or collateral backing, which generated monthly interest that was withdrawn by the sellers, and many of them charged the total cancellation of the same, however, the money paid came from the savings of the partners.”.
The file establishes that the assets acquired with the partners' money were placed in the name of companies and third parties, close to the members of the criminal structure.
