SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An appeals court in Puerto Rico has ordered a lower court to take charge of a $230 million fight between the local government and one of the island’s biggest banks.
The appeals court stated that the Court of First Instance erred when it ruled earlier that it lacked jurisdiction to handle a lawsuit filed by Doral Financial Corp. The lower court also was ordered to hold a hearing in which Puerto Rico’s Treasury Department will have the burden of proof.
Doral Bank maintains it is owed a $230 million refund in overpaid taxes, but the government announced in May that it was nullifying the multimillion-dollar agreement in part because the statute of limitations had run out.
The island’s justice department released the ruling on Wednesday.
