Jose Luis Benito takes control of the Ministry of Communications. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)
Of course, not everything was good in the former minister’s administration, which was marred by allegations in the press that he benefited construction companies that were close to him with public contracts, including the company Supervisión, Construcción y Mantenimiento.
This company is owned by Alejandro Matheu Escamilla, a friend of the former head of the CIV and with whom he shared the same hobby: horse breeding. The former official’s time at this institution meant an increase in the number of contracts awarded to this company, to the point of accumulating contracts for Q619.17 million.
Following the allegations, the engineer was irritated with the press, a feeling that Morales shared, mainly, when criticism increased due to the constant problems presented by the Chimaltenango Bypass, the flagship project of the FCN-Nación government.
The objective of this road was to reduce the time it takes to travel through the aforementioned department. Although both Benito and Morales defended the work carried out, this route has registered dozens of landslides since its inauguration five years ago.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office later identified a series of irregularities in the execution of the project, in which the former minister was allegedly involved and which led to the collapse of the success built by Benito based on his “mega-project” and millions of quetzales received, apparently, illegally.
Subscribers
Subscribers
Chimaltenango Bypass
President Jimmy Morales traveled to Chimaltenango on April 12, 2019 to open a bypass, with the aim of facilitating transit to the west of the country and reducing travel times by diverting routes to this new route and not passing through the urban area of the aforementioned department.
The project extends for 14.5 kilometers and its construction began in 2014, during the government of the Partido Patriota. The road was to cost Q312.99 million. However, its value increased and three years after the beginning of the works the project had already reached Q451.73 million.
That money was not enough to cover all the work needed to complete the road, so the Communications Ministry had to hold a new tender. This was approved by Benito and awarded to a company that, according to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, lacked the capacity to carry out the work.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that the construction company had only eleven workers registered with the Guatemalan Social Security Institute and did not have the machinery or logistics to carry out the work, which consisted of building a 2.3 kilometer stretch. Nevertheless, it was assigned the completion of the stretch for Q77.80 million.
Additionally, Q15.10 million was provided for the construction of a wall. The investigators stated that this complementary work had “notable flaws”, having produced “constant landslides” as a consequence of the deficiencies in the construction.
In the five years since its inauguration, the Chimaltenango Bypass, which was described as a “mega-project,” has suffered dozens of landslides. (Photo by Prensa Libre: PL Archives)
President Jimmy Morales at the inauguration of the Chimaltenango Bypass, on April 12, 2019, a project that had a final cost of Q528.7 million. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)
The investigation revealed that low-quality and overpriced materials were used in the work. The prosecution considered it fraud. In total, the company that was tasked with finishing the Chimaltenango Bypass received Q92.90 million. From that account, the total cost of the project amounted to Q544.63 million.
Prosecutors also identified alleged anomalies in the purchase of rights of way and payments were made to twelve people for their land, but property records were falsified. This generated, according to the investigation, tens of millions in losses to the state.
Due to irregularities, 17 people were arrested on July 10, 2020. The prosecution had requested Benito’s arrest, but Judge Mynor Moto refused to issue the arrest warrant. Seven months later, the arrest of the former minister was authorized, but it occurred when the case had been transferred to another court.
In this case, the former minister is on parole while awaiting a decision on whether he should face trial. The case is assigned to Abelina Cruz Toscano, head of the High Risk Court “D”, who is also handling a second judicial file in which the professional is indicted.
Furthermore, prosecutors Stuardo Campo and Eduardo Pantaleón, who led this investigation, have faced criminal proceedings for apparent errors in the development and delivery of the case file. The former is in prison, while the latter was acquitted of the charges by the Tenth Criminal Sentencing Court.
Q122 million
On October 16, 2020, the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) of Juan Francisco Sandoval surprised everyone by finding a huge amount of money in a raid. The operation was carried out in the exclusive Doña Beatriz condominium, located in Antigua Guatemala.
On that occasion, investigators found Q84.77 million, US$4.71 million and €95,950. In total, they located Q122.35 million, after currency conversion. All of that cash was hidden in 22 suitcases and it took prosecutors two days to carry out the confiscation of the funds.
The scene was unprecedented. The prosecutor’s office had suspicions about the owner of this “treasure”, but did not rush to mention it. Moreover, this unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office indicated that it would continue with the investigation to establish the link between the money, the property and the person who was responsible for an act that they considered illegal.
On that date, the FECI stated that an arrest warrant had been issued against Benito for his ties to that money and accused him of money laundering, because that amount was possibly bribes from construction companies. Two clues linked the engineer to the cash.
First, the prosecution found a label on one of the suitcases with the legend “José Luis” and a code that corresponded to a flight to Spain. The airline confirmed that the traveler was the former official, who went to that European country between November 12 and 19, 2018 (when he still held the position).
In a house in Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, 22 suitcases with Q122.3 million in cash were found in October 2020.
Second, the house where the money was found was apparently rented by the Las Rocas real estate agency, owned by José Ernesto Batres González. He told prosecutors that the lease with an option to buy the house had not yet been signed, but he said that Benito was already paying the monthly payments.
The former minister admitted his guilt in this case, through the Law of Acceptance of Charges, and was initially sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to launder money (a lesser crime for the accused). The sentence was reduced to two years and then modified on several occasions by the First High Risk Chamber.
Finally, the Second High Risk Chamber cancelled the hearing in which he pleaded guilty and now it must be repeated. Thus, the case is still in the intermediate phase and now Judge Abelina Cruz Toscano will have to decide whether to accept charges or continue with the normal course of the trial.
It is important to note that within this file, the FECI had initiated a new line of investigation, as a result of the statement of the so-called “Witness A”, who indicated that Benito had given Q20 million to the campaign of former President Alejandro Giammattei in 2019.
The money was allegedly a gift from a state-owned contractor and was given, according to the testimony, so that the former minister could remain in office for another year and several projects worth hundreds of millions of quetzales could be assigned to business entities that were close to him.
The former official was not confirmed in the position, but the agreed-upon contracts were supposedly made. At the time, the Presidency rejected the allegations and maintained that they were a political attack with the intention of damaging Giammattei’s image. The FECI has not revealed any progress on these investigations.
Department
The Q122 million seized in Antigua Guatemala went to the State after the asset forfeiture process was exhausted in January 2021. The court summoned Benito to claim the money and prove the legal origin of the cash. However, he did not attend the hearing.
In this regard, Judge Marco Villeda determined that the funds were obtained illegally and, therefore, were distributed among the Judicial Branch, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Defense, the Attorney General’s Office and the National Secretariat for the Administration of Assets in Forfeiture of Domain.
The house where the money was found was seized and is managed by the State, which has put it up for rent for Q12,850 per month, while it is determined whether it was used for illegal activities. The luxurious property has four bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry area, swimming pool, two gardens and a parking lot.
José Luis Benito arrives at a hearing in the Second Court of Appeals, for the Chimaltenango Bypass case. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)
José Luis Benito was granted conditional release on February 9, 2024 for the case of the Q122 million found in a house in Antigua Guatemala. (Photo Prensa Libre: PL Archives)
Defense
Free press tried to contact attorney Alberto Martínez, who in court records appears as part of the former minister’s legal team, to ask him about his analysis of these two cases in which his client is involved and his projections on the resolution of these files. However, he did not respond to the interview request.
Previously, the defense argued that there is no contract with an option to purchase the property in which the Q122 million were found, and the prosecution was also unable to prove that Benito had ownership of the house. It even stated that the former official pleaded guilty, but did not accept having laundered the money or being the owner of the house.
The lawyers also mentioned that the facts of which the engineer is accused in the Chimaltenango Bypass case are of a “political nature.” Benito also said that this case was opened due to the landslides on the slopes of the project, but he stressed that no slope was built during his administration.
window.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
/*(function($) {*/
(function (d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s);
js.id = id;
js.src = document.location.protocol + “//connect.facebook.net/es_LA/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
/*})(jQuery);*/
});
#minister #collapsed #megaproject
