Two linked to drug trafficking elected to Dominican Republic Congress: Listin

Santo Domingo.- Two men who won lower chamber seats in the May15 elections had faced money laundering and drug trafficking charges, even facingprosecution by Dominican and US courts, listin.com.do reports.

Deputies-elect Franklin Romero and Sergio Moya de la Cruz,who won congressional seats representing the National District and Duarte province,according to Central Electoral Board (JCE) provisional results.

Moya de la Cruz (Gory), elected in the National District 3rdward, was charged July 1998 by the National Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) oflaundering around US$300 million along with 14 codefendants.

In March 2000 Moya and three others were released on "insufficientevidence" by the National District 2nd Penal Chamber, judge ofthe Ilsis Muñoz. During the trial, prosecutor Germán Miranda?? asked a prisonsentence of eight years for the politician, now a lawmaker for the major oppositionparty, PRM.

In March Miranda had sought to investigate as many as 20candidates to elected posts in the last elections, on alleged links to moneylaundering and narcotics trafficking. The investigation’s results have yet tobe released.

The case of deputy-elect Franklin Romero was heard by a NewYork court, after his arrest in Panama when he was about to board a cruise shipin 2011, the outlet reports. “He’s the owner the record label Premium LatinMusic, who signed the disbanded bachata group Aventura.”

Romero had been sentenced to one year probation after confessingto providing communications with intent to distribute controlled substances. JournalistFausto Rosario published his conviction on Acento.com.do in 2012. Theconviction of supervised release and was handed down by New York South Districtjudge Lawrence McKenna.

The name of Sergio Moya also emerges in the interrogationof drug trafficking convict Winston Rizik (El Gallero), who had declared himselfan enemy of the also convict Jesus Pascual Cabrera because "I was opposed tothe killing of his friend,” named Sergio Moya, “prompting several attempts to assassinateme," newspaper El Caribe journalist Genris Agramonte reported on September8, 2014. "He tried to kill me and is afraid that I will retaliate becauseI was opposed to the killing of a friend of mine, Sergio Moya," Rizik said,quoted by the outlet.

Miranda had asked the JCE and the political parties to exertstricter control and transparency regarding who finances the candidates andthose who seek public office. "We’re warning the possibility of a threatof what could be the penetration of financing for party campaigns and groups ororganized crime cartels."

Miranda’s complaint came just at the end of the deadline forcandidates, to which JCE president Roberto Rosario responded that it wasimpossible to remove them from the lists of candidates who hadn’t beenconvicted.