Boca Chica Garden project exposed as major fraud targeting Dominican diaspora

Boca Chica.- The Boca Chica Garden project—promoted as a luxury beachfront residential complex for Dominicans living abroad—has been revealed as an alleged large-scale fraud, leaving over a hundred investors with millions in losses and unfulfilled dreams. An investigation by El Informe con Alicia Ortega found that despite promises of modern apartments and amenities, the development site remains an empty lot where construction never began.

Victims, many of them retirees from the Dominican diaspora, shared stories of how they invested their life savings in what they believed would be their homecoming. Among them is Otoniel Pichardo, who invested US$80,000 in four units, only to discover the land abandoned and flooded. Others, like Francia Romero and Puerto Rican truck driver Gabriel Rodríguez, lost tens of thousands of dollars after being misled by promotional materials and false promises of oceanfront apartments.

Attorney Miguel Serum, representing more than 100 affected investors, filed a criminal complaint against developers Edgar and Mabel Hernández for aggravated fraud and money laundering, describing the project as “a well-structured deception disguised as paradise.” Apartments were sold for US$54,000 to US$80,000 each, with elaborate promises of luxury facilities. The developers’ lawyer, Frankelis Peña, has denied wrongdoing, attributing delays to permitting issues—a claim victims say cannot justify the complete lack of construction.