Dominican Republic prosecutor sticks to her guns that judge ‘took US$2.0M’ bribe’

Santo Domingo.- National District prosecutor of the Yeni Berenice Reynoso affirmed Monday that she hasn’t changed her position regarding Instruction judge Margaret Cristo ,who declared her in contempt of court after the former accused the judge of accepting a US$2.0 million bribe from a drug kingpin.

"We’ve already taken a stance and are fulfilling what we had stated in a responsible manner," the official said when she arrived shortly before 10am, accompanied by her lawyers Laura Acosta Lora and José Lorenzo Fermín.

Reynoso spoke prior to questioning by National District Appellate Court prosecutor José Sepúlveda, who subpoenaed her on Cristo’s complaint.

Cristo’s contempt of court against Rynoso came during a hearing in which the judge was asked to recuse herself from presiding over the investigative phase in the embezzlement and money laundering case against former of Public Works minister Victor Díaz Rúa, a close collaborator of former president Leonel Fernandez.