Justice Dept. to evaluate whether to reopen investigation into family secretary.

Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres, right, said she will evaluate new documents and interview individuals to determine whether to reopen an investigation into Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes.

By THE STAR STAFF

Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres stated on Monday that she will evaluate new documents and interview individuals to determine whether to reopen the investigation regarding Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes.

The justice secretary’s remarks followed a meeting with Popular Democratic Party Sen. Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, who visited the Department of Justice to discuss documents that he said were not before the agency when the case was closed.

Gómez Torres said the Justice Department neither concealed documents nor removed evidence from the case file; rather, it received additional documents that had not previously been under the agency’s consideration.

“No documents were removed here; no evidence was hidden,” she said. “We forwarded the case file exactly as we received it, and we sent it to the Senate.”

The justice secretary noted that the Health Department originally submitted 239 documents, and that subsequently -- following a request from the Senate -- additional documents were added.

“I have always said that if we obtain additional evidence, the case will be reopened; however, it must be evaluated responsibly,” Gómez Torres said. “I have to evaluate it in order to then make a determination.”

She did not specify when subpoenas would begin, but indicated that the reevaluation process would commence later in the day.

“We do not want to constrain ourselves with a rigid deadline,” she added. “We are going to conduct the investigation properly, taking whatever time is necessary.”

Hernández Ortiz said the documents discussed included the forwarding of an email to an individual identified as “Baby,” an additional referral from former Health Secretary Carlos Mellado López, administrative correspondence related to Roig Fuertes, and a request for admissions regarding One Source Investigations, “an international organization specializing in investigations, consulting, security, and training, focused on the needs of its clients in North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America,” according to the firm’s LinkedIn page.

“That email never appeared in the Department of Justice’s case file at the time the case was closed,” the senator asserted. Gómez Torres clarified that “[w]e did not have the forwarded copy sent to the alleged ‘Baby,’ but we were able to corroborate the email itself -- we did indeed have that.”

“It was the forwarded copy that we lacked,” she said.

“Given everything that has been alleged, there are sufficient grounds to conduct an evaluation,” Gómez Torres added.

The controversy surrounding Roig Fuertes stems from allegations related to her tenure at the Health Department, the $60,000-per-month contract awarded to One Source Investigations, and the forwarding of an email to an individual identified as “Baby” -- an issue that has also prompted referrals to the Justice Department and the Office of Government Ethics, as well as calls for a legislative investigation within the Senate.