Verónica Alcocer and ‘the bachelor’: the 5 objectives of forensic audit ordered for contracts and appointments in Ecopetrol

With three fewer Petristas, the Ecopetrol board of directors has just given the green light to an internal forensic audit to investigate at least 5 corruption scandals that have begun to be documented with anonymous complaints, audios, and former state officials.

Under the instruction of the new board president, Luis Felipe Henao – representative of the pension funds – and with the knowledge of Miguel Gómez, the Minister of Finance of the De La Espriella government, documents and emails from the parent company and its subsidiaries on various lines of investigation – accessed by EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit – related to mega gas and solar panel deals, as well as appointments of senior executives for which millions may have been paid.

Henao himself dropped a nickname that was immediately recognized in several subsidiaries: ‘the bachelor’. 

According to complaints held by the state company and at least one investigative agency, to which EL TIEMPO had exclusive access, he is a businessman in the large civil works sector, especially in the Santander regions, who poses as an engineer without a degree.

“He is attributed with having paid for the appointment of at least two vice presidents of Ecopetrol and other group executives, who ended up directing million-dollar deals. For the return of one of them, who had been removed from Ecopetrol due to the so-called Lizama spill scandal (in Santander) and a corruption case in Casanare, 5 billion pesos are said to have been disbursed,” an executive of the state company who now collaborates with the authorities and the company told EL TIEMPO.   

He added that besides power and contracts, alias ‘the bachelor’ – known as Jaime A. – has links to criminal groups in the Barrancabermeja area, where one of the oil company’s refineries is located: “There is even talk that he made a significant hidden contribution to a recent political campaign.”

The freshest trail of the contractor and one of his recommended people is that they were about to close a multimillion-dollar gas purchase deal, which they tried to push through the Houston office.

Henao mentioned that deal. And then-president Gustavo Petro insisted on the need to buy the molecule. But he admitted that the purchase, attempted through various channels, fell apart because Juan Carlos Hurtado, acting president of Ecopetrol, “got scared” and Ricardo Roa, who was reinstated for a few days, also did not complete it.

‘The bachelor’ and his associates appear mentioned in several audios circulating, where other people are also discussed.

One of them is referred to as ‘the rib’, who allegedly celebrated the extension of some contracts for the maintenance of the oil company’s plants (which benefited him) and who is attributed with demanding juicy bribes for awarding contracts even abroad.

In those audios, some of which have already been leaked to the media, the Catalans Xavier Vendrell and Manel Grau are mentioned, close friends of Verónica Alcocer and her ex-husband, Gustavo Petro Urrego. In the same context, the names of two Italian businessmen are appearing.

“Meetings are being documented in which Ecopetrol executives were to report and bring information on terms of reference for million-dollar processes,” the same executive said.

He added that Henao empowered Ricardo Rodríguez Yee – representative of the producing departments on the Ecopetrol board – to investigate these cases within his role as head of the compliance area.

Rodríguez Yee and Henao were the dam holding back several board decisions, which until a few weeks ago had Petrist majorities.

One of their legal battles was to prevent Roa’s permanence, despite criminal charges against him for acts he denies: violating campaign limits and the shady purchase of his apartment 901, revealed by EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit and linked to a case of influence peddling.

Henao has been emphatic that the truthfulness of versions according to which Alcocer would have had the opportunity to steer processes through the Catalans will be established.

In her first press interview, the Spanish Eva Ferrer (formerly a close friend of Alcocer) admitted to EL TIEMPO that she promoted a million-dollar project in which Ecopetrol was going to contribute a juicy sum. But she said it did not materialize and that the then first lady was not involved.

On the contrary, Luis Enrique Rojas, former president of Hocol, Ecopetrol’s powerful subsidiary, revealed to EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit that Grau summoned him to one of Roa’s apartments to tell him, on behalf of Alcocer, that they would support him in exchange for placing a couple of people.

Rojas gained relevance this Thursday during the start of the trial hearing against Roa for the case of the purchase of apartment 901 that led to the accusation of influence peddling for the alleged favoring of former police officer Juan Guillermo Mancera.

The latter, besides being an intermediary in the purchase of the property, controlled the company Gaxi, which was about to secure a million-dollar deal due to alleged pressures from Roa.

Rojas was not only confirmed as the star witness against Roa but was also recognized as a victim. 

And in the argument made by his defense, criminal lawyer Diego Henao mentioned Julián Caicedo, Roa’s partner, as another alleged source of pressure. Ricardo Roa has emphatically denied these allegations.

But the purchase of 901 is another of the cases that will be included in the audit.

(Check out all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)

Although Roa declared himself impeded – because Vélez was his boss – it is sought to verify why if initially those plants were to pass to Ecopetrol’s hands at zero cost, 42 million dollars ended up being paid. 

The ‘book of truth’ about Ecopetrol is just beginning to be written.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

u.investigativa@eltiempo.com

@UinvestigativaET

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