14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2023 — The National Police of the Dominican Republic arrested Cuban Alejandro David Hernández Castro on Wednesday for defrauding businesses of 6,612 dollars (376,128 Dominican pesos). According to a report, the detainee, who posed as a baseball player, used a bottomless bank card in three establishments to pay for food and get a tattoo.
Upon learning of Hernández Castro’s arrest, the people who were scammed came to ratify the complaint. A Dominican woman, whose name was omitted, accused the detainee of “consuming food and drinks in the company of several people” in the restaurant located on Mustafá Kemal Street, in the Naco expansion. The bill was $940 (53,528.20 Dominican pesos), which he paid with a card issued in the United States.
According to the Dominican authorities, the card with which “apparently” Hernández Castro paid “is from a US financial institution in which the digital verifone (payment platform) approves payment, but the money never arrives in the account of the commercial establishment.”
The National Police said that the Department of Investigation of Crimes and High-Tech Offenses investigates this type of fraud.
Another accusation against the alleged 22-year-old baseball player was made by the owner of a nightclub. He said that Hernández Castro, in the company of several people, consumed different drinks during his stay in the club, and his bill amounted to 5,273 dollars (300,000 Dominican pesos). The scam was similar to that used at the restaurant.
A tattoo artist also identified Alejandro David as the person who entered his establishment in the Los Prados sector and presented himself as a baseball player who would be recruited by a Major League team. The alleged athlete asked him to tattoo an image on his back and ended up defrauding him of 400 dollars (22,600 Dominican pesos).
Hernández Castro was arrested while crossing 27 de Febrero Avenue at Abraham Lincoln, in the National District. At the time of the arrest he did not have any identification, and the police later found two false passports among his belongings.
It was also learned that the detainee entered illegally on a raft. The journey was from Haiti, so he was undocumented in the Dominican Republic.
The detainee is under the control of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Naco National District, for the corresponding legal purposes.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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