The Public Ministry of the Dominican Republic has revealed that the fraud scheme around the Lotería Nacional reaches the $500m pesos figure. The investigation also indicates that the suspended administrator Luis Maisichell Dicent and former head of the national federation of lottery agencies (Fenabanca) William Rosario Ortiz plotted to commit fraud.
“In mid-2020, they jointly planned with the other defendants to steal money from lottery shops, licensees and gambling concessionaires in the Dominican Republic and other countries such as the United States, Spain and Jamaica,” details the document of the Public Ministry shared by Listin Diario.
The documentation also indicates that the officials met on multiple occasions to “approach employees of the national lottery and defendants who participated in these events,” aiming to plot how to carry out “fraudulent acts.”
According to the Public Ministry, appointing Maisichell Dicent as the administrator of the national lottery has been an essential part of the plot. This past weekend, the authorities conducted 15 raids that resulted in the arrest of the administrator, Rosario Ortiz and 8 more people.
“In regards to external participants, it prevailed the experience they had in the gambling sector and how easy it was for them to do this without drawing attention,” added the Ministry, which detailed that after being selected, the defendants were recorded while making mock draws in order to correct “possible mistakes.”
Furthermore, the report shows that the fraud around the May 1 draw was planned for April 10, 2021, although “it was not possible to gather that group of employees, they couldn’t follow the plan of the criminal structure.”
On May 19, the President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader suspended Maisichell Dicent for 60 days, until progress was made in the investigation, which had been previously recognised by the lottery.
The administrator himself had formally filed a complaint against the collaborators responsible for the May 1 draw, after national lottery companies Loteka and Leidsa had asked him to review the draw for possible irregularities.