Santiago Hazim reaches 11 months in prison over Senasa corruption allegations

Santiago Hazim, the former director of the National Health Insurance (Senasa), has reached 11 months in preventive detention. Hazim is accused of involvement in a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme and other irregularities within the institution.

The investigation, known as “Operación Cobra,” led to the arrest of eight individuals by the Public Ministry. Hazim was previously dismissed from his position by President Luis Abinader in August 2025. Other individuals implicated in the alleged corruption network include Gustavo Enrique Messina Cruz, Germán Rafael Robles Quiñones, Francisco Iván Minaya Pérez, Eduardo Read Estrella, Cinty Acosta Sención, Ramón Alan Speakler Mateo, and Ada Ledesma Ubiera.

While several defendants, including Hazim, remain in the Las Parras penitentiary complex, others have received alternative measures such as house arrest. In a recent hearing, Judge Deiby Timoteo Peguero ratified the preventive detention for Hazim and four others, while changing the coercion measure for Rafael Luis Martínez Hazim to house arrest with a 15 million peso economic guarantee.