Convicted embezzler: Government should get RD$1.0B from Scotia bank

Santo Domingo.- Embezzlement convict and financier Luis Alvarez Renta on Monday said the government should renegotiate the sale of the failed bank Baninter’s assets to Scotia Bank, which in his view secures at least RD$1.0 billion.

He said in the transaction Baninter’s properties were undervalued, such as the sale of 22 branch offices, and the management and sale of its loan portfolio, which took place from August to December 2003, between the Baninter Administrative Liquidation Commission (CLAB) and Scotia Bank.

Alvarez Renta said CLAB’s own audit acknowledged that the price of the branches didn’t take into account the branches’ intangible value represented by a clientele and a track record of business. "Since Scotia bank was allowed to choose branches, they were obviously going to select the most profitable.”

He also cited “indiscriminately negotiated discounts” without any apparent motivation, in the sale of branches and the portfolio as well, and both were based on values in books, especially the branches, were generally lower than any value compared with the cost to rebuild or construct a new branch.

Alvarez Renta, who’s currently serving a 10-year sentence at Najayo Prison, added that in the case of the loan portfolio, there was a clause on the possible returns which eliminated the transaction’s risks for Scotia Bank.