Julio César Herbas, one of the seven investigated by the 800 phantom items and the first apprehended by the most recent corruption scandal in the Santa Cruz Mayor’s Office, declared this Friday before the commission of prosecutors and assured that it was “used” by Antonio ‘Tony’ Parada Vaca, former director of Human Resources, to deliver 300 or 400 bolivianos to people who lent their names to appear as municipal officials without working.
In addition, it revealed that Valeria Rodríguez, who uncovered this case through complaints against Tony Parada, was aware of and had knowledge of the irregular movements made by her husband, so much so that she received benefits from these ‘ghost items’.
THE DUTY had access to the investigation booklet of the Prosecutor’s Office, which contains the testimony that Herbas gave for more than five hours.
The syndicated, He acknowledged being one of Parada’s trusted men, but he argued that he was always used for his “errands” and that he was always “threatened” to collaborate, or otherwise he would be fired.
“Antonio Parada recruited people, it seems that he spent a lot of time recruiting people for the items. The purpose was surely the illicit profits. He gave me 300 or 400 bolivianos to hand over to those people he was recruiting, whom I didn’t even know, ”Herbas recounted in his testimony.
In the midst of this scenario, the supposed ‘beneficiaries’ of these items, who lent their names, pointed out that Herbas was in charge of recruiting people to integrate them into this corruption network.
The apprehended said that he did not withdraw the salary of the phantom items from the bank, and assured that he did not know who did it. In addition, he noted that Antonio Parada gave debit cards of the ghost items to his then wife, Valería Rodríguez, so that she can use the money for her convenience.
“I have knowledge that Valeria handled debit cards with which she obtained money. That money she got was for her and not for Antonio (…) Valeria used the best handbags, the best perfumes, she lived on the road all the time ”, she declared.
According to Herbas, Valeria knew about the irregular contracts in the Mayor’s Office and she did not denounce her husband before, because she expected him to give her pensions, which did not happen and she tried to extort money from him. He also added that he refused to be Valeria’s witness in her divorce from Tony Parada in 2014.
“If Valeria knew that Antonio made these movements, Why didn’t he denounce it in his movements? Why did he shut up? Even Valeria says publicly that she would not speak if Antonio gave her his pension and did not take away his house. The one who enjoyed (the money) was Valeria. I think he wanted to extort money from Antonio and the game turned out badly for him, ”he says in his testimony.