Odebrecht case in the Dominican Republic
The conviction was upheld in May 2023 by an Appeals Court, but a dissenting justice claimed the decision would likely be reversed on further appeal, Operation Car Wash was a nine-year criminal investigation (2014 – 2022) that began in Brazil and originally involved money-laundering at the state-owned oil company Petrobras and bribery of government officials, including politicians, senators, governors, and businessmen, which expanded to numerous other companies (notably Odebrecht) and a dozen foreign countries.
[2] Odebrecht S.A. (officially Novonor), is a Brazilian conglomerate headquartered in Salvador, Brazil operating internationally in the fields of engineering, construction, and chemicals including petrochemicals.
[3] On December 21, 2016, the United States Department of Justice informed the international community of the scope of corruption schemes led by Odebrecht, mainly involving Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic.
[4] On the morning of 29 May 2017, the Attorney General of the Republic, Jean Alain Rodríguez, implicated fourteen men of being part of the Odebrecht corruption scheme, among them businessmen, politicians (including a minister) and a lawyer.
[6] The Attorney General Jean Rodríguez described the ruling issued by Judge Francisco Ortega, which declared the case complex and imposed coercive measures on the 14 defendants identified as having participated in the bribes admitted by the multinational Odebrecht in the country to secure public infrastructure contracts, as crucial for the fight against corruption and illicit enrichment.
[8] In May 2019, Columbia University professor and CNN en Español columnist Geovanny Vicente Romero questioned in his column, "Why is the Odebrecht case not advancing in the Dominican Republic as it is in other countries?
"[9] In June 2019, the Public Prosecutor's Office filed formal charges against only 6 of the alleged 14 involved, these being Conrado Pittaluga Arseno, Tommy Alberto Galán Grullón, Andrés Bautista, Ángel Rondón Rijo, Roberto Rodríguez, and Víctor Díaz Rúa.
[15][16] On June 29, 2021, the Public Prosecutor's Office arrested Jean Alain Rodríguez in the so-called Operation Medusa, accusing him of numerous charges, including: criminal association, bribery, embezzlement, collusion of officials, political financing, and illicit enrichment.
[17][18] This arrest further raised doubts about the impartiality of the accusation presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which was led by Jean Alain from 2016 to 2020, against the defendants in the Odebrecht case.
"[29] On August 9, 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice acquitted Ángel Rondón Rijo and Víctor Díaz Rúa, declaring them innocent and ordering the cessation of all coercive measures against them.
