Taxpayer victory: High Court orders top official to hand over papers

Santo Domingo.- In asmall yet significant victory for the country´s transparency, the ConstitutionalCourt on Thursday ordered Insurance Superintendent Euclides Gutiérrez Feliz tohand over the updated information on the liquidation of the bankrupt insurancecompany Segna SA, as requested by Diario Libre editor-in-chief Adriano MiguelTejada in a missive dated August 2, 2013.

The decision overturns AdministrativeSuperior Court ruling 027-2014 handed down on January 30, 2014, rejecting theinjunction which sought to circumvent enforcement of the Free Access to PublicInformation Law.

On June 5, 2014 Tejadahad appealed the lower court ruling handed down November 2013, onconstitutional grounds.

The high court orderedthe handover of the status of Segna´s liquidation, bank statements, deposits,checking and savings accounts and other financial instruments which have beendeposited in financial assets, in addition to accounts receivable and payable,identity of debtors and creditors.

Similarly all documentsrelating to canceled financial certificates of RD$52.0 billion deposited in theBanco de Reservas.

Baninter emporium

Segna SA formed part ofthe financial emporium headed by the bank Baninter, whose collapse fromwidespread embezzlement cost Dominican taxpayers more than US$2.5 billion, andsent the country´s economy into a tailspin.