Oscar SantamariaAnd The contractor who agreed to take $6 million in bribes, it’s a topic Not only for the confiscation of assets by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, but To book and refund money earned through fraudulent contractsIf the court rules in favor of the legal recourse offered by Municipality of Catania.
Chief Justice of Bayamon Court, Betsy Asensio Quills, Tuesday I ordered the imposition and prohibition of transferring ownership of properties belonging to Santamaría and Island Builders, which he created in 2018.
Cattaneo’s municipal attorneys argued that a judge should order the confiscation of the assets, as an alternative to final compensation of $584,220 obtained through fraudulent contracts.
“There is no need to make conclusions here because one of the participants, who led the scam, testified that Island Builders were awarded three contracts to broker bribes.”, in an interview with new day, Claudio Alif Ortiz, from Aldarondo & López Bras.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, December 22, by law firm Aldarondo & López Bras, seeks to void the contract because it was awarded in violation of Puerto Rican laws.
Municipality of Catania Under the new mayor, Julio Alicia, he filed three separate lawsuits to recover fraudulently cashed money to the Island Builders and Waste Collection companies., belonging to Santamaría Torres; The JR Asphalt Company, created by Raymond Rodriguez Santos and Mario Vargas Villegas, as indicted by the US Department of Justice.
Elif Ortiz, to this newspaper’s questions, answered that regardless of whether services are provided or not, “The Supreme Court has held, in countless cases, that the responsibility to comply with the constitutional provision that public funds are to be used for public purposes entails (…) that public funds paid under a void contract can be recovered”.
Judge Asensio Quills agreed with the municipality’s assessment that the defendant evaded the subpoena, and required Santamaria Torres and the island’s builders to identify all of the estates belonging to them.
Two more cases are in progress
Two similar court cases have also been filed by Mayor Alicia Vasallo for the purpose of recovering and confiscating funds that were disbursed to the waste collection Previously JR AsphaltAnd companies involved in the scheme of bribery and corruption. In total, it is about a claim to return $23 million to municipal coffers, in addition to fines and fees.
The municipality is demanding the return of the $13.4 million that was spent on the waste collection through four contracts and their amendments.
San Juan District Judge Glorian Lotti Rodriguez scheduled the hearing for January 31 to discuss the temporary treatment of the ban and the asset transfer ban in the case against the waste collection, which is something the city council has asked to reconsider. “Given the real risk that the defendant will disappear or the funds available to recover public funds will be squandered, we request that the hearing be held … at any time within the days of January 3 to 14, 2022.”, Lawyers planted.
In connection with JR Asphalt, the lawsuit demands that $9.7 million paid through a total of 47 contracts be returned to municipal coffers, with their respective adjustments. The hearing to attend the temporary compensation for the ban was scheduled for Thursday.
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