The courts have imposed severe measures against former officials of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) and a contractor involved in a complex corruption case.
Olmedo de Jesús López Martínez, former director of UNGRD; Sneyder Augusto Pinilla Álvarez, former deputy director of Risk Management; and Luis Eduardo López Rosero, contractor, will be held in preventive detention in military and police establishments.
The precautionary measure was decided by the 35th criminal judge of Bogotá following a request from the Attorney General’s Office.
The Ninth Delegate Prosecutor’s Office before the Supreme Court of Justice presented solid evidence linking the three defendants to a corruption scheme that manipulated the contracting of emergency works and the supply of water in La Guajira.
López Martínez, Pinilla Álvarez and López Rosero are charged with multiple crimes, including aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime, undue interest in the execution of contracts, aggravated embezzlement, falsification of a private document and ideological falsification of a public document.
Despite the indictment, the accused have not accepted the charges.
The investigation reveals that between March 2023 and February 2024, UNGRD provided confidential information to contractors, allowed the hasty registration of companies in the suppliers’ register, and agreed to bribe payments of up to 14% of the value of contracts. In addition, documents were falsified to legitimize contracts and disbursements.
The irregular documents correspond to 21 contract orders totaling 228.884 million pesos. The investigation showed that six of these orders were directed to benefit the companies of the contractor López Rosero, which included the purchase of tanker trucks and fire trucks for the region of La Guajira and other areas.
An analysis of the contracts revealed an overrun of 14.163 billion pesos in the contract for tanker trucks in La Guajira. It was determined that 724 million pesos were destined for bribes paid to Olmedo López Martínez, while 342 million were destined to Sneyder Pinilla Álvarez. The contractor, for his part, would have illegally earned 7.821 billion pesos.
The investigation also uncovered irregularities in the leasing of tanker trucks and the awarding of contracts worth 96 billion pesos, related to resources from an agreement with the National Land Agency (ANT). The corrupt practices uncovered underline the magnitude of the scandal and the need for justice to recover the diverted public resources.
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2024-08-31 23:54:43
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