Dominican Republic’s top tourism cop was on the take

Santo Domingo.- Brigadier General Juan Carlos Torres Robiou has been in charge of the Tourist Security (Cestur) for seven years, an entity that, according to the Justice Ministry, was used by the defendants in Operation Coral to fraudulently appoint hundreds of police officers and military, among other felonies.

Although he does not appear as a defendant in the corruption network, Torres Robiou is mentioned in the indictment against those implicated in the alleged network headed by the former head of Presidential Security (Cusep), Army Major General Adán Cáceres Silvestre.

According to the filing Torres Robiou has rented for US$3,000 a month a property in El Portillo, Samaná province, registered in the name of Único Real State and Inversiones SRL, a company investigated in Operation Coral.

The Justice Ministry considered a situation “extremely suspicious” that the senior official has rented a property for a large amount to use it sporadically.