FBI, DEA and PR prosecutors interrogate 4 of Agosto trial
District Attorney of the National District called it "a working meeting"
SANTO DOMINGO.- The federal prosecutor for Puerto Rico that investigated the case in which the drug capo Jose David Figueroa Agosto is accused of drug trafficking, two members of the DEA, two from the FBI and a similar number from the United States Customs Agency (ICE), as well as the District Attorney for the National District, Alejandro Moscoso Segarra, interrogated yesterday four of the eight defendants on trial for allegedly laundering money from the criminal activities of "Junior Capsula."
The Puerto Rican prosecutor and the other federal investigators arrived at the offices of Alejandro Moacoso Segarra a little before 4:50 in the afternoon.
Ten minutes later, Eddy Brito was led in and at 5:20 his interrogation was begun. His lawyer from Puerto Rico was present.
Later on, at around 6:20 p.m. Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra, Sammy Dauhajre and Ivanovich Smester were taken to the offices of the District Attorney.
The summoning of the defendants in the money laundering case is related to an investigative process that is open in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico regarding the activities of Jose David Figueroa Agosto and his alleged network.
Questioned regarding the presence of United States investigators in the country, Moscoso Segarra said that this was a working meeting and did not offer further details.
The question arose after the end of the day's hearings in the process that is on-going against the defendants, at the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Penal Chamber of the Court of the First Instance.
Sobeida goes on
Sobeida Felix Morel expanded her repertoire as she testified before the tribunal that is holding court against her and seven other defendants in the case of alleged money laundering of the money from the criminal activities attributed to her lover Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
She said that all of the assets that the District Attorney of the National District has seized come from drugs, including the two apartments where she lived with Figueroa Agosto in the Alco Paradisso Tower.
Sobeida alleged that during her time hiding out in Puerto Rico she realized that all the assets are the result of drugs, so that nobody can claim them as legitimate or the result of an inheritance. "It wasn't like Figueroa Agosto won the lottery. After nine months in Puerto Rico with this person, I know that all these assets are the result of drugs," she stressed. She said there are documents that the Dominican authorities do not have, but the Puerto Rican authorities do have, including copies of checks. After justifying the causes of her running away and hiding for eight months, she said that the assets acquired by Figueroa Agosto and the other accused are the result of drugs.
The defendant reproached Mary Pelaez Frappier for having issued a check for US$100,000 to Jose Luis Figueroa Agosto, a brother of "Junior Capsula," and other checks for four Puerto Rican that she did not identify. She said that she thought that Pelaez was going to admit her participation in Figueroa Agosto's activities. She recalled that when she fled to Puerto Rico, after obtaining her release on a bail bond, she did it for reasons that only she understands.
Trial continues today at 9:00 a.m.
Judges Gisselle Mendez, the chief magistrate of the tribunal, July Tamariz Nuñez and Tania Yunes will continue today the trial against the defendants. The magistrates suspended the process after seeing several incidents and allowing the intervention of the defendants and the defense in the middle of witness testimony. The hearing was started at 9:55 a.m., with the final statements of Colonel Julio Cesar Souffront, who ratified the alleged partnership of Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra with Figueroa Agosto. For his part, Fernandez Ibarra rejected the accusation, alleging that all he did was sell cars to Ramon Sanchez, which is how he knew the capo.
The Puerto Rican prosecutor and the other federal investigators arrived at the offices of Alejandro Moacoso Segarra a little before 4:50 in the afternoon.
Ten minutes later, Eddy Brito was led in and at 5:20 his interrogation was begun. His lawyer from Puerto Rico was present.
Later on, at around 6:20 p.m. Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra, Sammy Dauhajre and Ivanovich Smester were taken to the offices of the District Attorney.
The summoning of the defendants in the money laundering case is related to an investigative process that is open in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico regarding the activities of Jose David Figueroa Agosto and his alleged network.
Questioned regarding the presence of United States investigators in the country, Moscoso Segarra said that this was a working meeting and did not offer further details.
The question arose after the end of the day's hearings in the process that is on-going against the defendants, at the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Penal Chamber of the Court of the First Instance.
Sobeida goes on
Sobeida Felix Morel expanded her repertoire as she testified before the tribunal that is holding court against her and seven other defendants in the case of alleged money laundering of the money from the criminal activities attributed to her lover Jose David Figueroa Agosto.
She said that all of the assets that the District Attorney of the National District has seized come from drugs, including the two apartments where she lived with Figueroa Agosto in the Alco Paradisso Tower.
Sobeida alleged that during her time hiding out in Puerto Rico she realized that all the assets are the result of drugs, so that nobody can claim them as legitimate or the result of an inheritance. "It wasn't like Figueroa Agosto won the lottery. After nine months in Puerto Rico with this person, I know that all these assets are the result of drugs," she stressed. She said there are documents that the Dominican authorities do not have, but the Puerto Rican authorities do have, including copies of checks. After justifying the causes of her running away and hiding for eight months, she said that the assets acquired by Figueroa Agosto and the other accused are the result of drugs.
The defendant reproached Mary Pelaez Frappier for having issued a check for US$100,000 to Jose Luis Figueroa Agosto, a brother of "Junior Capsula," and other checks for four Puerto Rican that she did not identify. She said that she thought that Pelaez was going to admit her participation in Figueroa Agosto's activities. She recalled that when she fled to Puerto Rico, after obtaining her release on a bail bond, she did it for reasons that only she understands.
Trial continues today at 9:00 a.m.
Judges Gisselle Mendez, the chief magistrate of the tribunal, July Tamariz Nuñez and Tania Yunes will continue today the trial against the defendants. The magistrates suspended the process after seeing several incidents and allowing the intervention of the defendants and the defense in the middle of witness testimony. The hearing was started at 9:55 a.m., with the final statements of Colonel Julio Cesar Souffront, who ratified the alleged partnership of Juan Jose Fernandez Ibarra with Figueroa Agosto. For his part, Fernandez Ibarra rejected the accusation, alleging that all he did was sell cars to Ramon Sanchez, which is how he knew the capo.