February 24, 2015

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Dominican Drug Trafficker Says He Donated $4.6 Million To Country's Ex-President Leonel Fernandez.

In a 2005 file photo, Quirino Ernesto Paulino cries as a judge announces his extradition to the US. Photograph: Miguel Gomez/AP
Leonel Fernandez served as President of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2012.

Click HERE to read Dominican Republic Watchdog website dedicated to exposing Leonel Fernandez. Dominican Watchdog is educating the world about fraud and corruption in the Dominican Republic.

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The Guardian, UK
written by AP staff
Thursday February 19, 2015

Quirino Ernesto Paulino, who served 10 years in trafficking case, says money went to former Dominican Republic leader Leonel Fernandez

A convicted drug trafficker and former captain of the Dominican Republic’s army told a local TV station Thursday that he donated millions of dollars to former president Leonel Fernandez.

A man who identified himself as Quirino Ernesto Paulino told TV station Teleradio America on a video call that he donated some $4.6m in cash from 2002 to 2004 that was delivered in suitcases. Fernandez was elected president for a second time in 2004 after serving from 1996 to 2002.

Paulino was arrested in December 2004 following the seizure of nearly 1,400kg (3,100lb) of cocaine, the largest ever at that time. He was extradited to the United States in 2005 on charges of money laundering and of allegedly importing 30 metric tonnes of cocaine into that country. He served a 10-year sentence following a plea deal and remains in the US to testify in other cases.

Fernandez said in a brief statement that Paulino’s comments were part of a campaign to discredit him.

“Those attacks highlight the determination of my administration in confronting international organized crime groups, which it extradited as required by law,” he said.

The comments come as the Dominican Republic prepares to hold general elections next year. Fernandez has not said whether he will seek to run again, although supporters and members of his party have been promoting him as a potential candidate.

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