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PUNTA CANA. With pickets, marches, publications in the press and other actions, the members of the Cooperativa Herrera (Coopherrera) have made their voices heard demanding justice in the alleged embezzlement of which they have been victims.
The drama experienced by those affected by the embezzlement of the Cooperativa Herrera also affects savers in the eastern part of the country, especially in Consuelo, Quisqueya, San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana and El Seibo, although the majority of savers in the aforementioned cooperative company are from Santo Domingo.
One of those affected, who preferred to remain anonymous, told El Tiempo that Coopherrera had his life savings, some four million pesos, which he would use to guarantee his children's education and to ensure a better quality of life for his family.
The scandal began on October 4, 2023, when, following constant complaints from savers regarding the mismanagement of the cooperative company, justice intervened and the aforementioned Jorge Eligio Méndez, Gabriel Santana Borsilea, Ana Cecilia Tejada Santos, Julio César Minaya, Simona Borsilea, Kenia del Carmen Liriano Pérez and Jacer Eliazar Mejía Pereyra were arrested.
The fraud against Coopherrera's more than 40,000 members is over RD$2.5 billion pesos. This company had been in the market for more than 60 years.
ORIGIN OF THE CASE
In 2018, according to the Public Prosecutor's file, a criminal association was created, made up of Jorge Eligio Méndez (Coopherrera's main director and executive) and the aforementioned Gabriel Santana Borsilea. According to these investigations, the structure responded exclusively to the president of the cooperative, who somehow managed to occupy the position of General Administrator.
The investigation details that the boards of directors, oversight and credit committee were made up of relatives and people of extreme confidence of Eligio Méndez, which allowed him to manage the partners' funds as he saw fit.
Among the serious acts uncovered by the investigation are the simulation of loans and the creation of financial certificates without any basis.
According to the file, Simona Borsilea Juan, a resident of San Pedro de Macorís, who is a janitor, is the owner of luxury goods, including a Mercedes Benz car.
The investigations into the case were carried out by the Financial Investigation Unit and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Santo Domingo Oeste, under the guidelines of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Josefina Garcia, a public sector teacher and one of those affected, said that “all of her hard-earned savings were in that cooperative. We have no help, we don’t have a helping hand in this problem.”
“I want to make a call to Luis Abinader Corona and remind him of a word he said in his first term that in his Government he would not accept corruption and now Mr. President we need something to be done for us, the savers of this cooperative. President, come to our aid. All the savings of my life and my husband's are there, since 2005,” said desperate Mrs. Mayra Díaz.
All Coopherrera members have their own history in the aforementioned cooperative company, such as Mr. Cinito Vargas, who in his desperation also asked the Government to intervene: “Mr. President, we know that you want to leave a legacy of seriousness in your Government, please come to the aid of those of us who have had to work hard to save our money in that cooperative.”
Several of those affected said that before the situation was revealed, they noticed that the cooperative was not liquidating the savings once the deadlines were met, which made them begin to suspect that something bad was happening.
They said that the Government, which guarantees the cooperatives through the Institute for Cooperative Development and Credit (Idecoop), has left them alone in this fight. They recalled that last March, the board of directors of the regulatory body of these companies with a solidarity vocation, published in the press the high interest in developing a plan so that the partners of the entity can recover their money, but the report of said plan should have been presented in June, but this has not happened, according to those affected.
STAGE OF THE CASE IN COURT
The case is currently in the investigation phase. The alleged perpetrators of the embezzlement received coercive measures of 18 months. In this preliminary phase, the evidence in the case is pending discussion to determine whether there are sufficient elements of guilt to proceed to trial on the merits.
The next hearing has been set for September 27, as reported at the time of going to press. In light of this new hearing, Coopherrera's partners hope that justice will rule in their favor and that their savings will be recovered.