The former director of Casinos and Games of Chance, Oscar Chalas Guerrero, was admitted to a medical centre after suffering a heart condition, just hours after he admitted his responsibility in the charges against him in the corruption case known as Operation Calamar (Operation Squid).
The former official, admitted his responsibility in the collection of money from illegal betting establishments to allow them to operate, following an agreement with the Public Ministry, which requested a plea deal in his favour.
As part of the agreement, Chalas Guerrero returned 17 million pesos to the State via cheques, along with two vehicles with a combined approximate value of almost three million pesos.
In making his statements, accepting his responsibility before Judge Altagracia Ramírez of the Fourth Instruction Court, the former official stated that the former Minister of Finance, Donald Guerrero, was aware of the collections from the illegal betting establishments.
He claimed that he once spoke with Donald Guerrero about stopping that “mafiosi structure” and that Guerrero accepted his proposal; however, after revenue decreased, “the minister (Donald Guerrero) ordered that the previous structure be maintained.”
He affirmed that they charged between 3,000 and 6,500 pesos monthly “to allow those illegal betting establishments to operate” and noted that “since there were many,” he was unaware of the total amount collected.
Chalas Guerrero expressed remorse, stating, “I accept that those events occurred, and I am not proud of it.” He served as the director of Casinos and Games of Chance from September 1, 2016, to March 18, 2019.
In April 2023 two Dominican legislators with links to betting businesses admitted to having paid bribes on a monthly basis to former officials from the gambling regulatory body. According to the Public Ministry, corrupt officials took in around US400k a month in a scheme which all took place under the protection of the then Minister of Finance. The corruption case involves more than a dozen politicians and former cabinet members. According to the accusation, in the period 2016-2020, senior officials constituted a network of illegal collections that may have amassed as much as 19,700 million Dominican pesos, some US$360 million, making it the largest case of corruption in the Dominican Republic.
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The former director of Casinos and Games of Chance, Oscar Chalas Guerrero, was admitted to a medical centre after suffering a heart condition, just hours after he admitted his responsibility in the charges against him in the corruption case known as Operation Calamar (Operation Squid). The former official, admitted his responsibility in the collection of…
The post Former head of gambling board in Dominican Republic pleads guilty and taken to hospital appeared first on G3 Newswire.