False justices performing weddings

[PJT]

Fabio,

There is a news article posted today, Feb. 8, within the online version of Diario Libre of a mafia of false justices performing weddings in Punta Cana,

Falsos jueces celebraban bodas en Punta Cana: JCE - DiarioLibre.com

The short form of the story is a mafia of people passing themselves off as civil officials and issuing false wedding and birth documents. It is suggested they were working in complicity with hoteliers in the Punta Cana area. Within the last few months at least 30 wedding petitions have been rejected because of the absence of civil officials and at least 20 Britons have demanded delivery of certificates.

What recourse does anybody (tourists) have regarding this mess, should they have been unknowing victims of this scam? Do they have recourse with any of the hoteliers if their wedding ceremonies had been prearranged and planned by the hotels?

What should anyone do if they do plan to get married in the D.R. in order to protect themselves from this sort of scam? Anything you can add?

Regards,
PJT

[SamanaJon]

Live by my motto, "Don't trust anyone". There are scams of all sorts here in the DR as in many other places. Not only in property transactions, but in every phase of life here on the Island. Fake permits of all sorts, fake VISAS, including DR Lawyers who never went to law school. It is amazing how things operate here, therefore step carefully with your eyes wide open and you may not be taken too badly. Concerning weddings at Resorts, the name of those Hotel/Resorts involved should be Black-Listed and not be permitted to perform any such activities in the future. After all, they are responsible for activities that take place on their property, are they not?

[Fabio J. Guzman]

The victims could certainly sue for damages the hotel or tour operator that arranged the wedding.

[The Virginian]

I have friends coming here in June to get married at a local resort in POP. Their travel agent is working with the resort and organizing the wedding. How can they verify the people performing the wedding are licensed to do so? thanks

[dv8]

phil&gerry, if you want to help your friend you'd have to pop into one of the ofices of estado de civil (one on calle beller and one close to post office) they will give you ALL the info.
as soon as miesposo is back from NYC i will PM you with a name of trusted and 100% real judge who performed our ceremony.

[Hillbilly]

This news broke on Thursday. It opens the door to a gazillion issues> people who think they are married and are not really, and the lawyers a just sitting there salivating. The lawsuits alone could well bankrupt a few hotel chains...

HB, stqying tuned to this one!!

[Lambada]

And some of these go back to 2004? And we haven't heard on DR1 of any tourists with fake weddings? Or............have we?

[Hlywud]

The biggest problem is these couples are at home, USA, England Canada or wherever and are waiting for their marriage certificate, they have paid large amount of money to get married in the DR and really are not officially hitched.

They also would not know how to go about starting a suit against the fraudulent resorts.

[The Virginian]

Does any one know which resorts are doing this?

[PJT]

The culture of the press here is: a traffic accident with death or injury, there will be bloody photos of the victims and information on the vehicles involved to include year, make, color, and plate number; on the other hand, criminal negligence on the part of a resort, one is lucky to get a region where it is located for fear the report may damage the resort's reputation or insult some VIP's integrity, which in turn which would exact some form of retaliation against the press.

PJT will keep his ear to the ground to obtain verifiable information of the resorts involved in the wedding scam.

Regards,
PJT