Colonel Justo Araújo, staunch defender of the Dimabel surrender agreement to a Brazilian company, who is the right arm of General Aldo Ozuna, director of the Directorate of War Materials, has his wife Cynthia Huespe, owner of the firm Star & Company , as a provider for Dimabel and other dependencies within the Army. In the Public Procurement portal, the name of Colonel Araújo appears as the administrator of the contracts in the military institution and his partner as a supplier of spare parts. The Contracting Director speaks of a serious offense committed by the official and his wife.
Source: By Jorge Torres Romero
Colonel Araújo was taken from Dimabel by General Ozuna as financial director. He is considered in the institution as the right arm of the highest authority of the Directorate of War Material. Araújo is the one who stood up on behalf of his boss, in the program “The Black Box”, when the disputed surrender agreement that General Ozuna signed with the Brazilian Cartridge Company for the sale of ammunition was discussed.
Dimabel’s financial director, whose name appears on the Public Procurement portal as the institution’s contract administrator, has none other than his wife Cynthia Huespe, owner of the firm Star & Company, as Dimabel’s supplier. .
Col. Justo Araújo, financial director of Dimabel, and his wife Cynthia Huespe, owner of the Star & Company firm.
The company belonging to the wife of Colonel Araújo also won several tenders in the Ministry of Defense where her husband was in a dependent position within the Contracting Operational Unit. This is an example of how the military clique continues to become millionaires and enjoy benefits such as luxurious vacations abroad.
The company Star & Company is dedicated to the sale of covers, batteries, filters, lubricants, alignment service, balancing, mechanics and laundry. All this provides the Armed Forces and especially Dimabel, where it even benefits from direct hiring without bidding.
According to the portal of the National Directorate of Public Procurement, Cynthia Huespe’s company has 43 State awards, of which 31 are linked to military units and they exceed 3,100 million guaraníes, only in tenders of the Command of the Army – Ministry of National Defense. From the last figure, it can be seen that 12 were for direct contracts.
Star & Company has been providing its services to the Army since 2018 and over the years it has been increasing its awards, making its big leap in 2021 with 12 tenders in its favor. This year, the firm has won four bidding processes. On April 6, it was awarded for the sum of G. 110,943,046 for the provision of covers and air chambers. Then, on June 3, it was again benefited by G. 208,683,115 for the same item. On June 7, it was awarded for G. 373,979,340 to provide spare parts, and on June 13 for the maintenance service of Army Command vehicles, for the sum of G. 178,500,000.
The coincidences that occur in the military ranks are very suspicious; a company linked to a senior Dimabel official that wins almost all the Army tenders. In this way, over the years, the Araújo-Huespe family managed to make millions and that can be boasted with trips to various parts of the world, as can be seen in the publications on social networks.
These are some of the contracts for Dimabel in which Araújo appears as administrator and the wife as provider.
Pablo Seitz, director of Public Procurement, affirms that this case of Colonel Araújo and his wife, who is a supplier to Dimabel, constitutes a serious incident. “Sanctions in the field of contracting could range from warning to disqualification. We would be in a conduct of bad faith since the existing link is omitted in the affidavits, ”he indicated.
Seitz adds that it is a very close relationship, husband and wife, for which irregularities would be incurred both in the Public Procurement Law and in the law of public officials; that is, a double fault. “Clearly, those companies that have ties with officials of the institution cannot be bidders in a tender,” says the Director of Contracts.
Araújo could be denounced by administration for his own benefit and the wife for false affidavit.
