Lobbying firm learns of audit findings through the media
After the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) imposed an $80,000 administrative fine against Politank for allegedly failing to submit required annual reports tied to its tax decree, the lobbying firm denounced the process as “selective” and said it first learned of the findings through press coverage rather than formal notice from the agency.
Politank president Manuel Torres Nieves, who acquired the firm from La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech, said the company became aware of the alleged audit findings “through the media and subsequently through communication received,” adding that the firm objects to the conclusions and will defend itself in the appropriate forums. Torres Nieves argued that the DDEC has not complied with due process requirements.
“As for these alleged findings, which we object to and will defend ourselves against, our legal representation will be dealing with them in a timely manner in the corresponding administrative, ethical and judicial forums,” Torres Nieves stated in a press release. “We hope that we are guaranteed our constitutional right to due process of law, which has not been complied with at this time, since we did not receive due notifications, just as confidential documents have been made public.”
He further criticized what he described as uneven enforcement within the incentives program. “We have to raise the flag of the particular selectivity of this process against our company by carrying out an alleged audit, when there are about 10 thousand decrees unaudited in the Department for about a decade,” he added.
The firm said it will appeal the fine but will refrain from additional comment. “In deference to the two administrative processes that the DDEC has not notified us of in the past few months, we will not issue additional comments on this matter,” Torres Nieves concluded.
The DDEC’s findings, disclosed in a memorandum submitted by Secretary Carlos Ríos Pierluisi to the Senate, indicate that Politank failed to file annual reports for 2020, 2021 and 2025; submitted late or incomplete filings for 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024; and did not obtain prior authorization for a “transfer and/o change of control” of the entity, as required under its decree before Domenech sold it.
The case comes amid heightened scrutiny of Puerto Rico’s incentives program and longstanding concerns about compliance gaps. Ríos Pierluisi has said the agency is working to modernize oversight and address a backlog of decree evaluations. Politank argues that the audit reflects selective enforcement rather than systemic noncompliance.
