The Panel on the Independent Special Prosecutor (PFEI) approved expanding the investigation that grew out of former DDEC Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard's complaints to formally include Secretary of Governance Francisco Domenech, the governor's chief of staff, and Undersecretary of Governance Itza García. The probe by two special independent prosecutors had originally centered on Norberto Almodóvar Vélez, former director of the Permits Management Office (OGPe), and Charlene Neuman Rivera, the office's former personnel chief, over alleged improper conduct in a competitive contracting process.
According to the panel, information obtained by the prosecutors during their investigative efforts prompted the widening, with the aim of determining legal responsibility, if any, in criminal and/or administrative matters. Governor Jenniffer González Colón called the expansion "the expected result" and said she supports a thorough investigation through the appropriate channels, adding that she planned to discuss with both officials how to manage the probe without disrupting government operations.
The expansion comes roughly a week after Negrón Reichard submitted a 58-page sworn declaration to the Senate sustaining his allegations against Domenech and La Fortaleza.