Dominican Republic court rejects Trujillo heirs' claim to 1950s bank deposits

The Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic has declared inadmissible a legal challenge brought by the children of Lina Lovatón Pittaluga, who are the grandchildren of former dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. The claimants sought the return of millions of dollars deposited in the Banco de Reservas in 1950.

The dispute centers on a deposit certificate established by Trujillo with a condition that the funds would pass to Lovatón upon her death. Following Trujillo’s assassination in 1961, his heirs argued the funds should be exempt from Law 5785-62, which confiscated the assets of the dictator’s family.

Previous rulings by civil and appellate courts had already rejected the claims. One decision in 2022 determined that the funds in question had actually been withdrawn prior to Trujillo’s death. The Constitutional Court ultimately ruled that the arguments presented did not constitute a constitutional controversy, but rather a legal conflict, effectively ending the latest attempt to recover the assets.