‘Banker’ defrauds 300 flees with US$32.6M+: Acento

Santo Domingo.- Teodoro Hidalgo Mendez, owner of the Inversia financialcompany, is being sought by authorities for allegedly defrauding nearly 300people out of more than RD$1.5 billion(US$32.6 million), acento.com.do reports.

Among the plaintiffs figure pensioners, seniorexecutives of the Cerveceria Nacional breweryand business acquaintances who deposited millions of pesos under guarantees by Hidalgo,who declared bankruptcy in September .

"The financial company wasn’t legally incorporated,although Inversia banking transactions were conducted through the Central Bankand was operating normally on Jacinto Mañón St. # 25, National District.

Hidalgo, former senior executive at the CerveceriaNacional, issued RD$50 million certificates to customers, generating 16 percentinterest in six months or 24 percent in two years.

"In la Ceveceria, you had the option to receive your monthlypension or lump sum, then most people opted for it; Teodoro Hidalgo was then synonymouswith trust and the deposited," the customers say.

Inversia’s alleged fraud consisted of giving customers-after their deposit- the monthly interest, which they could live on withoutusing their deposited capital.

Customers say for years Hidalgo gave themtheir monthly earnings of the interests generated from their deposits and it wasn’tuntil September when the delays began.

"When did the problem start? InSeptember … the 30th arrived and had not deposited, then we called there and theysaid it had liquidity problems," says Nerys Martinez, who had a CD of sixmonths, which had matured in September and when he went to withdraw, wassurprised when they couldn’t produce her money.

She said she had deposited the money from thesale of an apartment with which to buy another, but lost both investments.

Like Martinez, others say they lost their yearsof savings and work after the bankruptcy.

According to reports Hidalgo left the countryOctober 8 to return on the 22nd, but his arrival hasn’t been confirmed.

He was accompanied by Lt. Col. Yldebrando DeJesus Guzman Toribio and Michel Maria Evertsz Estevez.

The Biaggi y Messina law firm, representing morethan 10 plaintiffs, filed the criminal complaint on fraud at the NationalDistrict Office of the Prosecutor.