The Panel on the Independent Special Prosecutor (PFEI) determined there was sufficient cause to investigate the complaints filed by former Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard, and assigned two special independent prosecutors to handle them as related matters. The complaints reached the panel by way of the Department of Justice, which recommended the investigation after Negrón Reichard reported his findings.
Former Permits Management Office (OGPe) officials Norberto Almodóvar Vélez and Charlene Neuman Rivera face allegations of improper conduct during a competitive process for professional services contracting. The complaints also describe alleged interference by Secretary of Governance Francisco Domenech in internal investigations and irregularities in public contracting, including pressure to award an advertising contract to JJ Investment and intervention favoring tax decrees for the Opus Miramar project, which has been linked to Politank, Domenech’s former lobbying firm.
The prosecutors were authorized to look into information complementary to the matters under consideration. The designation is the first formal investigative step to emerge from the complaints that preceded the May resignation of Negrón Reichard and more than 10 senior DDEC officials.