Dominican Republic Customs chief ‘highly corrupt’: US indictment

Santo Domingo.- The indictment announced Wed. on charges of corruption of U.S. senator Robert Menendez and wealthy Dominican eye doctor Salomon Melgen calls the former head of the Caribbean country’s powerful Customs Agency “highly corrupt.”

The stunning moniker will likely raise fresh questions about people close to embattled former president Leonel Fernandez’s, already reeling from allegations that a drug trafficker help fund his presidential run in 2004

According to the indictment, paragraph 119 details conversations over a contract for x-ray scanners to use in the country’s ports, and calls the head of Dominican Republic’s Customs Agency director, “highly corrupt.” According to the dates in the indictment, the head of the country’s leading revenue-generating entity was Rafael Camilo.

Former president Leonel Fernandez appointed Camilo director of the Customs Agency (DGA) during his third term in May 2009.

US Dept. of Justice Indictment: http://www.scribd.com/doc/260635373/Menendez-Melgen-Indictment