The Orlando Sentinel
February 12, 2000
Two convicted in San Juan AIDS scheme
By Ivan Roman, San Juan Bureau
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Apparently agreeing with the prosecution's claim
that the defendants were part of a "den of thieves," a jury convicted an
epidemiologist and a lawyer and fund-raiser for the New Progressive Party of
being part of the $2.2 million San Juan AIDS Institute fraud and
money-laundering scheme.
Epidemiologist Jorge Garib Bazain and lawyer Luis Dubon Otero were found
guilty of conspiracy to steal about $770,000 of those federal funds, part of
which -- witnesses say -- went to bribe politicians or was funneled to
political campaigns. Garib, who paid for a maid for his home and a secretary
for his private practice out of those funds, was also convicted of perjury
for lying to a grand jury.
With this verdict, the entire board of directors of Advanced Community Health
Services, the now-defunct institute's administrative arm, is either convicted
or dead. And this second trial in the high-profile public-corruption case
that has rocked Puerto Rico since last year does not mark the end of the
probe.
"This case proved that democracy in this country is for sale," U.S. Attorney
Guillermo Gil said. "We're going to keep investigating. And all those
involved in everything we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt -- no matter
who they are -- we're going to charge them. I'm moved today, because the
people here have said 'no' to the most powerful people in this country."
The jury of eight women and four men didn't accept the defense's contention
that the two ACHS board members were victimized by former health adviser
Yamil Kouri, the mastermind of the scheme, who was convicted in the first
trial and sentenced to 14 years behind bars.
The defense also was unsuccessful in undermining the credibility of ACHS
comptroller Angel Corcino Mauras, the prosecution's star witness, who
admitted to having stolen money and done much of the dirty work.
Both men now face up to five years in prison, and Garib could get another
five years for the perjury conviction. Sentencing is set for May 11, and the
defendants plan to appeal.
"Even before the trial started, we had problems with bias against my client,"
said a tearful Howard Srebnick, Garib's lawyer. "The name Kouri in this
community is mortal. I can't explain how this happened to a man like Dr.
Garib who has done much for this community. I just don't understand it."
Many of the defendants' relatives and supporters, who packed the courtroom,
broke down in tears or appeared shocked as the verdict was read. Dubon turned
red, bobbed his head up and down and rubbed his hands repeatedly along the
table. Garib bowed his head, clenched his fists, then hugged his sobbing wife
and mother.
This second phase of the so-called "Trial of the Decade" could put behind
bars a member of one of the island's wealthiest and most influential
families. Dubon's companies have about $250 million in assets, and his family
owns a private bank for the wealthy and much real estate, including the
building that houses the pro-statehood New Progressive Party's headquarters
in San Juan.
Before Friday's verdict, the AIDS Institute corruption scandal had landed
three people in jail, led seven others to plead guilty, including a former
senator, and forced the vice president of the House of Representatives to
resign.
In this second trial, a parade of six politicians or former politicians took
the witness stand, including Gov. Pedro Rossello. Four others were
implicated, including some accused of trying to block a House of
Representatives probe into the matter. Witnesses identified five politicians
so far who allegedly received bribes or illegal campaign contributions from
those funds, shaking the island's political establishment to its roots.
Prosecutors convinced the jury that Dubon and Garib were part of the scheme
that used bogus contracts, offshore accounts, and ghost companies to steal,
launder and divert funds. Both men signed checks made out to people who did
no work for the institute.
ACHS board meeting minutes were altered to hide the fact that half of a
$10,000 monthly fee paid to Dubon's law firm actually went to Kouri, which
witnesses say was used to pay off politicians. Dubon also tried to block the
House of Representatives probe into the institute's dealings and ordered
eight boxes of documents shredded when he was subpoenaed in this case in 1998.
Former NPP San Juan mayoral candidate Jose Granados Navedo testified that
Garib gave him a box with more than $100,000 in cash during his failed 1988
campaign. Around the same time, witnesses said he also asked the head of a
video production company to cash a check for $60,000 that he was not owed
and, in turn, write checks in smaller denominations as a way to launder the
money.
Granados Navedo was forced to resign his position as vice president of the
House of Representatives shortly after his testimony in the first trial last
year. Former Port Authority head Carlos Diaz Olivo, who was arrested briefly
on contempt-of-court charges for refusing to answer some questions on the
witness stand in this trial, received $25,000 in cash from Kouri in a paper
bag for his failed 1992 San Juan mayoral campaign.
When the verdict was read, someone rooting for the prosecution also sobbed.
Jose F. Colon, a spokesman for Aids Patients for Sound Public Policy,
remembered how, in 1991, his ex-partner was refused help at the Aids
Institute and they ran up a $55,000 debt at a local hospital.
"We lived through the painful effects of that fraud and that's why I was here
every day," said Colon, 47. "Now I feel much calmer. Now I can die with a
smile on my face."
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