SIP panel names prosecutor to look into allegations against ex-DDEC chief

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico’s Special Independent Prosecutor Panel (PFEI by its initials in Spanish) has appointed attorney Ana Paulina Cruz Vélez to examine materials filed by La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech Fernández involving former Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its acronym in Spanish) Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard.

Ygrí Rivera Sánchez, who chairs the panel, confirmed the appointment.

Cruz Vélez brings experience from several areas of Puerto Rico’s legal system, including work as a Justice Department prosecutor, a special independent prosecutor, a private attorney and a judge.

Rivera said Cruz Vélez will assess the documents referred to the panel and prepare a preliminary investigative report. The matter reached the PFEI after Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres recused herself and sent the case directly to the panel.

The PFEI chairwoman said Gómez’s recusal triggered the legal process requiring the panel to assign an investigating prosecutor. That prosecutor will draft the kind of preliminary report the Justice Department would ordinarily submit, including a recommendation on whether to appoint a special independent prosecutor.

Domenech took the allegations to the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics in June, submitting two sworn statements along with evidence to support claims of corruption against Negrón Reichard.

The complaint alleges that Negrón Reichard, while leading DDEC, engaged in at least five acts of corruption tied to conflicts of interest. It further claims his actions benefited at least five clients of Reichard & Escalera by $74,111,000. Héctor Reichard de Cardona, Negrón Reichard’s grandfather, is the firm’s principal partner and shareholder.

The request for investigation also points to the appointment of attorney Ernesto J. Zayas García as director of DDEC’s Incentives Office. Negrón Reichard appointed Zayas García on March 17, 2025, three days after Zayas García ended his work as a partner at Reichard & Escalera, where he had advised corporations on decree matters before that same office.

Rivera said the scope of Cruz Vélez’s review will be confined to the allegations made against Negrón Reichard.