Raid on business of senator in embezzlement case ‘arbitrary, illegal’

Santo Domingo.- The lawyers of embattled senator Felix Bautista on Sunday revealed a search of one of the legislator’s businesses, calling it an abuse of power by Justice minister Francisco Dominguez and "arbitrary and illegal, to widen the investigation against our client."

The alleged search is the latest development in the embezzlement case against Bautista, a close collaborator of former president Leonel Fernandez, president of the ruling party, PLD.

Juan Antonio Delgado and Marino Feliz said the search of the electro-mechanical company SEYMEH was conducted to "supposedly" determine if its computer operating systems and programs were licensed.

"The illegality of the procedure was demonstrated, since that company is part of the Supreme Court indictment obtained by the Justice Minister against the legislator," the lawyers said.

In a statement to the media, the attorneys add that the jurisdictional rule that authorized the search on the company was violated since it wasn’t on a warrant issued by an ordinary instruction judge, and instead by a judge assigned to the case by the Supreme Court.