Domenech files complaints against Negrón Reichard

La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech Fernández

By THE STAR STAFF

A widening ethics controversy inside the administration of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón intensified this week after La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech Fernández filed two sworn complaints accusing former Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its acronym in Spanish) Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard of orchestrating a pattern of conflicts of interest that allegedly steered tens of millions of dollars in incentives to clients tied to his family.

The complaints, submitted to both the Office of Government Ethics (OEG its initials in Spanish) and the Department of Justice, describe what Domenech characterizes as a “systemic breakdown” in the safeguards meant to prevent public officials from intervening in matters involving relatives or former employers. According to the filings, at least five clients of Reichard & Escalera -- the law firm led by Negrón Reichard’s grandfather, attorney Héctor Reichard de Cardona -- received a combined $74.1 million in incentives and decrees during the former secretary’s tenure.

Domenech, who delivered a message on WIPR about the complaints, said the evidence was compiled over several weeks, drawing from OEG certifications, internal DDEC records and interviews with agency officials. He emphasized that the petitions were filed only after verifying each allegation under oath.

“I examined all the documentation, I conducted the interviews I needed to conduct,” he said during a televised appearance at WIPR Channel 6, where he defended the timing of the filings.

At the center of the petitions is Domenech’s assertion that he repeatedly instructed Negrón Reichard to recuse himself from any matter involving his grandfather or the firm’s clients. According to the sworn statements, the former secretary resisted those directives, arguing that recusal would limit his ability to manage the agency. Domenech said he initially believed the recusals had been filed, only to discover on May 8 -- when the OEG sent its formal certification -- that none existed.

The complaints also highlight a separate conflict involving Negrón Reichard’s wife, María Beatriz Gorostiaga Zubizarreta. She registered Grupo Imperial LLC on Feb. 22 of this year and applied for a DDEC tax decree a week later. Domenech said neither he nor the governor was informed of the application, and that Negrón Reichard did not file a recusal until a month after the request was submitted. The OEG later noted that the recusal could not be applied retroactively.

Another focal point is the appointment of attorney Ernesto J. Zayas García, a former partner at Reichard & Escalera, whom Negrón Reichard named director of the DDEC Incentives Office in March 2025. Domenech said Zayas was hired without the governor’s knowledge and continued handling matters involving clients of his former firm for nearly three months before filing a recusal. During that period, several of those clients received multimillion‑dollar incentives.

The complaints further allege that Negrón Reichard failed to recuse himself from matters involving Banco Popular, where his father, Eduardo J. Negrón, served as a senior executive until April of this year. Domenech argues that the bank’s commercial clients could have been directly affected by DDEC decisions under the secretary’s authority.

A key episode that accelerated the inquiry, Domenech said, was a dispute between Negrón Reichard and former Land Authority director Robert Segarra over a proposed land transaction involving Coopervision, identified as a client of Reichard & Escalera. Segarra told Domenech that he opposed the deal because it was “not good for Puerto Rico,” and that the DDEC secretary became “hostile and aggressive” when challenged. Segarra said he was never informed that the company was represented by the secretary’s grandfather’s firm. He resigned on May 15.

Domenech said that once he learned of the Coopervision dispute, he requested a full accounting of recusals across the administration. The OEG certification that followed revealed that Negrón Reichard had not filed recusals for his grandfather, the firm, its clients, or Banco Popular, and had submitted only one late recusal related to his wife.

The petitions also outline a series of abrupt personnel decisions inside the DDEC in May, including the dismissal of Deputy Secretary Carlos Ríos Pierluisi without notifying La Fortaleza and public clashes with officials at the Office of Permits Management. Negrón Reichard resigned on May 22, four days after Domenech requested a comprehensive list of all decrees and incentives issued since January 2025. Zayas delivered that list on June 2, his final day at the DDEC Incentives Office.

La Fortaleza has framed the petitions as part of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón’s commitment to transparency and accountability. The administration reiterated that it “will not tolerate corruption -- wherever it comes from -- when evidence exists.” The matter now moves to the OEG and the Department of Justice, which will determine whether to open formal investigations.

The complaints were filed on Thursday, days after the former DDEC secretary filed a complaint with the Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel, accusing Domenech of corruption and interference.

Negrón Reichard released the following statement later on Thursday:

“What occurred today with the presentation of false allegations is deeply and historically unfortunate. Barely days after advocating for the referral of matters to the competent authorities, the chief of staff responded by filing a formal complaint against the very person responsible for raising the alarm and taking action,” he said in written remarks. “My family is no stranger to these types of consequences; we are not the first generation to pay the price for a moral compass that forbids silence. Remaining silent was not an option for me, either.”

“Today’s allegations cannot be viewed in isolation,” the former DDEC secretary continued. “They are part of a sequence of events that began the moment I requested the removal of officials involved in the complaints that were subsequently referred to the authorities. Since then, there have been obstacles, pressures, attempts to discredit the complaints, and threats against my reputation and that of my family -- and now, a complaint built upon allegations that bear a striking resemblance to those very campaigns of intimidation.

I am not intimidated; nor is my family. Those familiar with my track record know that I never used a public position for personal gain or to favor private interests. On the contrary, I made difficult -- and often uncomfortable -- decisions precisely because I understood that a public servant’s primary duty is to protect the integrity of the institutions they lead.”

“The most concerning aspect of today’s events is not the personal attack against me, but the message sent to every public servant who witnesses irregularities and decides to report them,” Negrón Reichard said in the statement. “The fact that, after fulfilling one’s duty, the focus shifts from the reported facts to the person who reported them sets a very dangerous precedent.”