Pellerano: "I am innocent"

Manuel Arturo Pellerano Peña gave the following interview to Diario Libre, and painted a very human picture regarding the judicial situation he is currently facing, and where he focuses on the origins of the difficulties, and defends his innocence.  

Q. What is the reason for this 8 year sentence?

A. As much as I try to find an answer, I can’t. This process was begun by several investors who, at first, could not recover their money due to the run on the bank resulting from damaging rumors that were set forth by people with evil intentions that affected Bancredito, and because the Central Bank did not fulfill with its obligation that it took on to pay the investors as a result of the tripartite agreement that was signed.  

Nevertheless, we made an extraordinary effort and this money was paid to the investors and as a result, they dropped their suit, and things should have ended there. 

In spite of this, the Justice Department, on the continual and visible insistence of the Central Bank, opted to continue the process, in nothing less than the penal courts, when it was obvious that this was a civil case. And this was done without taking into consideration the fact that the prosecutor who had originally received the case dismissed any penal action. 

Q. Have you been unjustly condemned?

A. As time goes by, this sentence, if it is maintained and not annulled as we have requested, will be shown to be a sentence that weakens the Dominican justice system, that twists the sense of logic and coherence that should be evident in jurisprudence, the subverts the very basis of our justice system. The truth be said, what has happened is that they have condemned an innocent man without allowing him to present a series of proofs and basic documents. 

Q. Then, are you saying that there was no case?

A. No, there should have been no trial, but they kept alive the file and managed to get what they wanted at any cost: a guilty verdict. The Supreme Court still has the opportunity, if it finds it to be fair, pertinent and appropriate, to correct the errors that were made by one segment of the justice system and restore the blindfold of impartiality. 

Q. What do you mean there was no case?

A. Very simple. There were no complainants, the complaints were withdrawn; there was no proof, since they were not solid. Moreover, at the end, the prosecutors realized the uselessness of all this, and wrote down their lack of interest in this case. What was there? What was left then? False evidence. For example, a false financial statement, not stamped, with no author, maliciously attributed to a prestigious auditing firm, KPGM, which denied in writing that they had authored the statement. There was also a supposedly expert’s report, presented by somebody that the Superintendent of Banks has certified in writing that the person was not recognized as an expert, on the date when the document was produced. 

Q. This expert’s report, and the financial statement, they have to do with this trial?

A. No, and this is so important: they have nothing to do with the case. In reality, they have to do with the case for violation of the monetary law that the Central Bank, after failing to comply with the tripartite agreement, brought against us.  This case has yet to start. I have the right to defend myself within the framework of due process, but I have been condemned for something for which I have not been judged, without being able to present a defense. This is to say, my most elemental rights have been violated. 

Q. Do you mean to say that you are going to be judged two times for the same reason?

A. I do not know what more they can try against me. Neither can I explain so much ill will. My lawyers presented, some time ago, a request before the Supreme Court that they take precautions and avoid judging me twice for the same things, a right covered by the Constitution. To my distress, and, above all, to the disturbance of the citizenry because of the dangerous precedent that was created, they decided that no, there were two different cases. I respect this decision, although I consider it wrong. In reality, I have to ask myself, if they were two different cases, what is the reason for this sentence if not the case introduced by the central Bank? 

Q. Who are behind all of this, which appears meant to do you harm and not to seek justice?

A. I do not want to single out anyone; I have enough problems spending five years of my life on court issues that have caused a lot of anguish, tension and wear and tear, and that have wiped out my ability to create and to contribute the way I want to the development of this society. Nonetheless, any objective person can understand that the Central Bank is the entity that has moved the strings of this web that from the start and to the finish. I don’t know with to what end, but it has done it. 

aQ. Has it just been the Central Bank?

A. No. There are sectors in the civil society; some of them have serious conflicts of interest and others pursue private motives. These persons have lost the notion of impartiality, they have been stubbornly against us and they are betraying the confidence of the people that elected them to fight for a healthy justice, which is something they are not doing; in reality they are pursuing a submissive, populist justice system that is controlled by their own passions. 

Regarding the justice apparatus, I believe that one must believe in its majesty, in its capacity to finally arrive at an explanation of the truth; I believe that one has to keep working for its strengthening and give it all the support possible so that situations like mine are never repeated again. 

Q. What do you think is going to happen to you?

A. I will go, if that is my destiny, to the place where people full of resentment, that are my un-called for hangmen, have prepared; that is to say, to a jail that I think I do not deserve. I will do it, with full trust that no human act can be done with impunity, without some correction, at some time. It is not possible that the evil always wins over good. If it was like that, there would be no moral brakes. I ill take, with resignation, the bitter acid of this sentence frankly unjust. And once there, I will ask that in this country, the pretenders, those that trick everyone and use the resources of others with impunity for their own shameful ends and to feed old wounds will someday be put in evidence and pay for the damage they are doing to society. 

Q. Are you worried?

A. I am worried for my children, my family, friends and the population in general. What is happening to me today, can happen tomorrow to anyone, businessman, professional, student, worker or campesino. I think that if this is not corrected, from now on no one, businessman or not can be safe in this country. 

I am also worried for the investors with whom we have signed agreements for payment. My new situation will make it more difficult to fulfill what has been agreed to, but we will do what is possible as well as the impossible in order to satisfy their rights, as has always been my own conduct and that of my family. We won’t let them down. 

Q. Have there been some approaches to the Central Bank?

A. I have tried innumerable times, since 2004, but nearly always I have found obstacles, and always they have ended up closing the doors to any understanding. My desire has been and is, and I have communicated this on multiple occasions to the authorities of the Central Bank, to reach an agreement that will allow for the transfer by handing over in payment is liquid and non-liquid assets, that form part of the old patrimony of my family, that was put up as a guarantee, to cover the debt of approximately RD$12.4 billion that are pending with this institution. This is the debt, not the higher figure of more than RD$22 billion that persons interested in confusing the issues have repeated with ill intent. If there was some difference in the figure of the debt and the value of the assets to be handed over, some sort of payment could be arranged. 

The most important thing to remember is that, if this were to be done, the quasi-fiscal debt would be reduced and the government would feel less pressure, above all at a time that the world crisis is leading to a fall in public income. It seems to me that this is a subject of national interest and that the person that pays the quasi-fiscal deficit, that is to say, the government, has the right to demand that it does not keep going up and to hope that it goes down. One way to strengthen the public finances is to recover assets given as guarantees in order to reduce the quasi-fiscal deficit, but it seems that some believe that they have the right to increase this quasi-fiscal deficit at a cost to the treasury and to the population.  

I have called out for them to deal with me by the same measure that they treat others. It must be understood that Bancredito did not fail. It was sold. There was a run on banks, which is not a crime by the shareholders. And the investors are being paid. We want to cancel our obligations with the Central Bank by means of transferring assets, but it appears that some of the authorities are more interested in seeing me in jail than recovering the financial assistance that they gave during difficult moments. This is in sharp contrast with the treatment given to banks overseas that are affected by similar runs and that has been dispensed in this country to other groups. 

Q. Do you feel responsible for anything?

A. Up until now, different from other cases, I have faced the situations that were created, taking on all of the responsibility. I have given assets as guarantees for the assistance provided by the Central Bank. I have relieved the Central Bank of its contractual obligation to pay the investors and I have established payment plans with these investors that are being carried out. But, in these measures, nothing has been agreeable. It would seem that it is the same whether one is irresponsible or responsible.  If this message triumphs, it will be much more damaging for society. As for Bancredito, it was simply affected by a crisis and if there were mistakes, which is human, we have been paying for them with interest and with the long suffering that has affected my family. 

Q. Do you keep the faith?

I have always believed and had faith in God and in the great country, and I continue to have it.  For this reason I was a pioneer in businesses that have been and are standards in the modernization of the country. And I have faith also, even though with frequency I have had doubts, in that justice and the truth will ultimately win out. 

At this moment I feel great inner peace, I do not harbor any antagonistic feelings against anyone, in spite of realizing the mistreatment and the damage that has been done to me. 

Q. Any  reflections or guidance? 

A. Mi advice to my children, family and friends is that they go forward with their heads high, with pride. 

I have committed no crime, I have not stolen, I have not committed any fraud, I am innocent, even though they declare me guilty without any proof at all. Some day the truth will shine and justice will be carried out for me. 

In this case I have found a wall of prejudices, obstacles and a lack of comprehension, so much on one side of the public sphere as well as in the judicial sphere, as in segment of the society that are prejudiced. 

Nevertheless, I begin to see that in each one of these segments there are people that are shaken to find out about the manipulations that have taken place in my case. 

I am sure that many sectors will ask for an accounting of this great damage that is being committed today, and that can be committed against anyone tomorrow. 

Only God can illuminate everyone and make them understand the grave injustice that is being committed.

Diario Libre