One month after the change of Government, the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), headed by María Rocío Cortés Vargas, successor to Cielo Rusinque, has just issued a confidential report with evidence of a corruption scheme in the Metroparques case in Medellín, during the mayoralty of Daniel Quintero.
EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit had exclusive access to the report which states that the inter-administrative contracting of several district entities was used to avoid open and competitive processes.
The evidence
The document is dated last September 2 and is signed by Álvaro José Rodríguez Iza, Acting Superintendent Delegate for Competition Protection.
The report states that the SIC found a contractual corruption scheme in the contracting of the Parque de las Aguas de Medellín and the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley during 2021.
Specifically, it talks about the steering of eight private invitations towards favored suppliers.
“What was proven was not an isolated failure nor a simple procedural error: it was a deliberate mechanism to eliminate competition, simulate plurality of bidders and award contracts to previously favored companies,” a source familiar with the case told EL TIEMPO.
And added: “More than 15,748 million pesos were channeled through inter-administrative contracts 288 and 961 of 2021 to Metroparques, even though this entity did not have the experience or technical capacity to carry out the activities. The steering of eight private invitations in favor of Comercializadora JPino S.A.S., 1Soluciones S.A.S., and Constru Americana S.A.S. was also proven. To do this, suppliers without real capacity who served as a ‘front’ were invited.”
High-value contracts
According to the collected evidence, Metroparques modified its corporate purpose in June 2020 to include activities related to maintenance and operation of parks that it had not previously performed. At the time of the contracts, it had less than a year of experience in those activities.
For the SIC, insufficient criteria were set for high-value contracts; evaluation rules were altered; more favorable offers were excluded; certificates unrelated to the contracted object were accepted, and contracts were awarded to companies without experience or sufficient financial solidity.
Additionally, they pointed out that for the SIC, public entities were used as a bridge to bypass competitive selection, create an appearance of plurality, and award contracts to pre-selected suppliers, which would constitute contractual corruption.
(Consult all articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)
The document also warns that the findings will be reported to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Comptroller’s Office.
Furthermore, the findings were notified to those involved: Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley; Metroparques; Constru Americana; JPINO; 1Soluciones; Álvaro Alonso Villada García, former deputy director of administrative and financial management of AMVA; María Eugenia Domínguez Castañeda, former manager of Metroparques; Viviana del Valle Velásquez, former head of purchases at Metroparques; Carlos Augusto Jaramillo, former general secretary of Metroparques; Juan Alexánder Pino, then representative of Jpino; Yamileth Galindez, former representative of 1 Soluciones; and Enidia Salazar, former representative of Constru Americana.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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