As Donald Trump faces campaign finance violations in New York, a former presidential candidate in another country is also alleged of committing illegal campaign financing. Former Dominican Republic presidential candidate Gonzalo Castillo was placed under house arrest by a judge for his alleged role in that crime.

The Dominican Republic judge ordered the former public works minister to be held under house arrest. Moreover, two former high-ranking officials, former treasury minister Donald Guerrero and former administrative minister to the presidency Jose Ramon Peralta, remain in jail and are awaiting trial.

The three men are caught in a massive $347 million embezzlement case linked to illegal campaign financing, per the Associated Press.

During the 2020 general elections, Castillo received 37% of the vote when he ran for president. However, he lost to the current President Luis Abinader. The judge has set his bond at $365,000.

This is part of a massive corruption investigation that involved multiple high-ranking former Dominican Republic officials. Several men, including former comptroller general Daniel Omar Caamaño, have been barred from leaving the country. The former director of the State Sugar Council, Luis Miguel Piccirilo, was also placed under house arrest.

So far, a total of 20 suspects have been arrested in the case, with high-ranking officials from Castillo's Dominican Liberation Party accusing prosecutors of investigating only former government officials while turning a blind eye to corruption allegations against Abinader's current administration.

The former officials were placed in jail or under house arrest in accordance with Dominican Republic law, which allows authorities to hold suspects without bond. The judge has ruled that prosecutors have a total of 18 months to investigate the case, which is now considered the country's biggest corruption case.

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Gonzalo Castillo, Two Others, Arrested Sunday Morning

According to Dominican Today, the three high-ranking officials were all arrested early Sunday morning. Authorities conducted several raids in different sectors of Santo Domingo, the country's capital.

The three former officials were reportedly interrogated following their arrests and questioned about their various accusations of corruption.

Authorities had been investigating Donald Guerrero for several months over alleged irregularities in the payment of expropriations during his term at the Ministry of Finance. Castillo, Guerrero, and Jose Ramon Peralta were high-ranking officials under the government of former President Danilo Medina.

Other Ex-Dominican Republic Officials Arrested in Sweeping Corruption Investigation

Judge Kenya Romero of the Permanent Attention of the National District ordered 18 months of preventive detention for both Peralta and Guerrero, while Castillo was ordered to pay an economic guarantee worth $20 million and was also imposed with travel restrictions in addition to his house arrest.

Dominican Today noted that similar actions have been taken against lawyer Angel Lockward and former officials Daniel Omar Caamano, Aldo Antonio Gerbassi, and Luis Miguel Piccirilo.

Currently, Peralta and Guerrero are being detained in the Najayo Hombres prison. The judge has also denied all motions made by the defense.

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Written by: Rick Martin

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