Peravia bank fraud: Agents seize more apartments

Santo Domingo.- Agents and officials Friday morning seized two apartments in Malecon Center owned by executives of the collapsed Banco Peravia, and concluded the confiscation at Higuero Airport of a plane owned by the bank’s president, José Luis Santoro, who fled the country early last week.

The National District Office of the Prosecutor and the Drugs Control Agency (DNCD) seized the 15-passenger aircraft that had been stored in a hangar several months, in an operation conducted by Deputy prosecutor Isidro Vasquez, whereas his colleague Milciades Guzman headed the confiscation of the apartments.

Guzman said one of the properties seized belongs to Santoro and the other to bank vice president Gabriel Jimenez Aray, who also fled Dominican Republic to Panama, before the scandal broke.

Last week the authorities had already seized several properties under the names were women considered "girlfriends" of both bankers and identified Jimenez alleged paramour Yomaly Fernandez with several properties.

Foreigners

Peravia bank’s main shareholders are Venezuelans, but when the scandal broke, Jimenez flew to Panama whereas Santoro went to United States.