Jailed former banker in failed Universal bank gets house-arrest

Santo Domingo.- Former banker Leonel Almonte, sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2009 on a fraud conviction, will serve the rest of his term in house-arrest in his residence in the exclusive Piantini sector.

Almonte is banned from leaving his residence without prior notification and the judicial authority’s authorization, according to the ruling handed down by Santo Domingo province sentencing judge Richard Fidel Aquino.

Almonte’s son Leonel A. Almonte Ricart served as guarantor for his father’s parole.

Leonel Almonte has served four years of his prison sentence, convicted of fraud in the collapse of the Universal bank in the late 1980s.