The governor Wanda Vázquez Garced revealed today, Friday, that Strength is close to completing a report on the property that disappeared from the Executive Mansion –according to the president- during the transition between Ricardo Rosselló Nevares and Pedro Pierluisi, and added that they will submit the document to the relevant authorities to initiate an investigation.
Vázquez Garced maintained that it is up to Rosselló Nevares and Pierluisi to explain what happened to the objects and how they used public funds. An internal audit that the governor ordered upon arrival at the Palacio de Santa Catalina found an alleged embezzlement of furniture and other objects with a value of $ 14,729.45.
“That property did not appear, so I am going to comply because I am not going to allow there to be doubts, in any of the people who are listening to us, where those public funds are. They have to appear or they have to say what they did with them. We will refer you to the relevant authorities and that they do the investigation, be it the Department of Justice or other agencies. We will refer it because it is up to them. I make the discovery and have them investigate, “said Vázquez Garced during a visit to the Doctor Víctor Berríos residential in Yabucoa.
On June 1, it became public that the manager of the property in La Fortaleza, José D. Candelaria Santos, filed a complaint with the Police to report the disappearance of the objects. Candelaria Santos indicated in the complaint that an inventory was made of the properties assigned to the executive mansion that ended on May 21, and they realized that furniture was missing.
However, Rosselló Nevares reacted to the filing of the complaint through a letter that he sent to Vázquez Garced on Thursday. In the letter, the former governor denied that he had taken property from La Fortaleza and demanded that Vázquez Garced publicly clarify the information, which, he alleged, was revealed with “malicious intent.”
“Regarding the expressions made by the former governor, I have to say that personal attacks will never favor them. On the contrary, I repudiate them around here, all of you know that, even, the attacks that have come against my family will never support that because we are never going to sponsor that, “he said.
“But the transition from La Fortaleza should have been done, because we don’t have that evidence either, the former governor with Mr. Pedro Pierluisi, who was the first person to be in La Fortaleza after the former governor. There, in that sense, Mr. Ricardo Llerandi was , who must have made the transition. When I arrived at La Fortaleza there was no one there, so there was no transition there, “said Vázquez Garced.
Letter from Ricardo Rosselló to … by The new day on Scribd
Vázquez said that La Fortaleza made “multiple” steps for the former leaders to say where the missing property is. He added that his intention is to let the people know how public money was used.
“The only person who can tell where that property is is the former governor or Pedro Pierluisi, when he made the transition with the former governor,” added the president.
“Once we finish the report, which is already close, we are going to refer it to the relevant authorities, be it the Department of Justice or other authorities, we are going to refer it because it is up to them. I will make the finding and they will investigate it” , stressed the also ex-secretary of Justice.
Lastly, Vázquez Garced said that “in due course” he will reply to the letter that Rosselló Nevares sent, “but I believe that the person to answer is the people of Puerto Rico.”
Rosselló Nevares, who was forced to resign from the governorship last summer after the massive protests against him and went to live in the United States with his wife Beatriz and their two children, yesterday sent a letter to the governor in the who even claims that it was he who left belongings at the Palacio Santa Catalina. The new day He obtained a copy of the letter.
“We do not have any item that is not our property. This entire move in process went through their management and administration. We demand that La Fortaleza clarify this officially and also publicly express that the process of our move was carried out by the mansion staff, with strict instructions to leave anything that was not ours and even leaving personal property that we have donated to Fortaleza. ”Rosselló Nevares maintains in the letter.
Rosselló Nevares assures in the letter that the embezzlement is “false”. In addition, he maintains that his wife, Beatriz, donated some personal items to La Fortaleza.
“The ins and outs of the move were delegated to Administration and Property staff requesting that only our personal items be moved. If there was any doubt about what a personal article was or was not, it was insisted that the article be left in La Fortaleza, ”the letter reads.
Rosselló Nevares also reveals in the two-page letter that he has demanded that items of his property be left to him that he left in the executive mansion and that, so far, he has received no response.
“You are aware of this request because on multiple occasions Beatriz has contacted you to inquire about this matter,” says Rosselló Nevares, who resigned from his post after a wave of protests demanding his immediate departure after revealing the content of a chat in which he participated and wrote homophobic messages, demeaning for women and insulting for minorities.
For his part, Pierluisi maintained, by written communication, that Rosselló Nevares’ move was completed before he was sworn in, and questioned whether the information was now leaked.
“The move of former Governor Ricardo Rosselló was carried out before I was sworn in on August 2, 2019. During the time that I served as governor, I never had knowledge or inherent in the personal effects that the ex-governor used“indicated the pre-candidate for governor by the New Progressive Party (PNP).
“All the personnel of Fortaleza remained in their positions during my business as no changes were made. Even the acting administrator of the Fortaleza during that time was Luis Augusto Martínez, whom the governor later named as property. It was Mr. Martínez As Acting Administrator, who was in charge of the move. It seems inconceivable to me that after more than 10 months after the change of government, this supposed audit was leaked and that the Governor tries to make allusions that I had something to do with the alleged missing articles. Instead of blaming and making false advances, what you have to do is just clear this up, “added the former resident commissioner.
– .
Related
