US calls ‘bad actor’ Dominican businessman in Odebrecht scandal

Washington. – The United States on Thur. penalized Nicaragua’s Supreme Electoral Council president Roberto José Rivas, Guatemalan lawmaker, Julio Antonio Juárez, and Dominican businessman Ángel Rondón and 10 others accused of violating human rights and of corruption.

President Donald Trump ordered sanctions, which consist of freezing assets in the US and barring US individuals and legal entities from having business dealings or financial transactions with those sanctioned, as the Magnitsky law stipulates.

“Today, the United States takes a strong stance against the abuse of human rights and global corruption by removing these bad actors from the US financial system,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

He said Nicaraguan officials have blocked the judicial investigation into the immense fortune amassed by Rivas despite receiving a salary equivalent to just US$60,000 a year. He’s also accused of perpetrating electoral fraud.

Dominican ‘businessman’

Rondón has already been indicted by Dominican courts for receiving bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. He is currently free on bail

He has been Odebrecht’s commercial representative in the Dominican Republic since 2001 and allegedly distributed bribes of US$92.0 millions to local officials.