Three charged in scandal-ridden govt. agency to stay in jail

Santo Domingo.- The National District 4th InstructionCourt on Wednesday ruled against the three defendants charged with fraud in thescandal-ridden State Works Supervisor Office (OISOE), which led the architectDavid Rodriguez to take his own life.

Judge Ramon Atila Lambertus ruled that the evidence submittedby OISOE School Building Dept. ex-director Alejandro de los Santos, former SchoolBuildings Dept. Coordinator Yoel Soriano Fabian, and the lawyer Julio RafaelPerez Alejo (the bag man) aren’t enough to dispel them as flight risk.

Rodriguez took his own life on September 25, 2015, pressuredby alleged debts borrowed from OISOE employees and officials, to refurbish a schoolin Monte Plata, a contract he won in a tender.

The tragedy led to the firing of then OISOE director MiguelPimentel Kareh, and prompted other contractors to denounce other allegedlycorrupt dealings in the Government school construction program.

On December 30, 2015, in a mandatory review of pretrialdetention, the Fourth Instruction Court upheld the ruling which continued the oneyear pretrial detention of the accused.