In the midst of the hearing to charge Olmedo López, Sneyder Pinilla and the contractor Luis Eduardo López Rosero, the Attorney General’s Office released some key data in the case of the National Risk Management Unit (UNGDR).
During the day, the accusing entity revealed that at the UNGRD there were Contracts that were financed with resources from the National Land Agency (ANT)a key entity for the development of agrarian reform.
According to the deputy prosecutor, Andrea Muñoz, it seems that López and Pinilla agreed to hand over their supervisions to friendly contractors. “in exchange for paying bribes to both of them.”
“(López) arranged with Luis Carlos Barreto and his political boss, César Augusto Manrique, director of the Department of Public Service, the transfer of 100,000 million pesos that UNGRD had in agreement with the National Land Agency and in return, Olmedo López would allow said officials to direct nearby businessmen to contract desalination plants, storage tanks, mills, tank trucks, underground wells, in exchange for bribes.”Muñoz said.
Along the same lines, the prosecutor mentioned that resources would have been used for the agrarian reform of the ANT.
“In the framework of this conspiracy to commit crimes, 21 supply orders and contracts for more than 228,844 million pesos have been identified so far. As anticipated, they will be classified as events. First, the acquisition of tanker trucks with López Rosero’s companies, the acquisition of tanker trucks with the company Maquisabana SAS. And third, the acquisition of tanker trucks with resources transferred from the National Land Agency.”he added.
(Read more: UNGRD case: reasons why Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla did not accept charges)
It should be remembered that the scandal surrounding UNGRD was triggered after local media revealed in February the alleged embezzlement of 46.8 billion pesos (about 11.7 million dollars) in the purchase of 40 tanker trucks to bring drinking water to desert areas of the Caribbean department of La Guajira.
At the hearing on Thursday, July 25, prosecutor Muñoz assured that Olmedo López, former director of UNGRD, and Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of the entity, They committed contracts for more than 228 billion pesos and who paid bribes, at the end of last year, for 5.342 million pesos that came from the tanker truck contract.
In this sense, the charges against López, Pinilla and López Rosero are conspiracy to commit a crime, embezzlement by misappropriation and undue interest in the execution of contracts.
Hearing on the indictment of Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla.
(Read more: New prosecutor appointed for Nicolás Petro case after Mario Burgos’ departure)
Director of ANT speaks out
Through a video published on his X account, the director of the ANT, Felipe Harman, assured that “Not a single peso has left the National Land Agency for the National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD)” nor vice versa.
According to Harman, the only link that existed between the entities was related to Convention 96-77, which at the time encountered difficulties and a decline in its scope and resources. That is to say, “Tax obligations were never fulfilled on either side and are in the process of being settled. That is a key element.”
The manager also clarified that “Not a single peso of the Agrarian Reform has come out for the National Risk Management Unit”. He also indicated that the entity is available to the Prosecutor’s Office to provide the necessary information.
“We deeply understand that we must take care of the Agrarian Reform for the good of the peasants,” he added.
(More news: Petro on charges in UNGRD case: ‘Returning stolen property is essential’)
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