Convicted bankers seek Presidential pardons

Santo Domingo.- Manuel Arturo Pellerano and Andres Aybar Báez, convicted of fraud in two of the country’s three worst ever bank failures, figure on a list with 371 inmates who’ve asked a recently created Pardons Commission to be taken into account in the traditional yearly Presidential clemencies issued every February 27, to mark Independence Day.

A file at Najayo Prison lists 371 inmates who’ve asked the Commission to recommend them for the pardon, said Mario Acosta, Justice vice minister and liaison for the country’s penitentiaries.

Pellerano, ex president of the bank Bancredito; and Aybar, of the also failed Mercantil, were convicted of fraud after the bankruptcies.

Acosta said the selection will be transparent and the list will even be posted in a Facebook account. He said inmates with terminal diseases, chronically ill and in cases of extreme calamity will be recommended, and as long as they haven’t seriously offended the national consciousness.