On the Country Club track in Managua, in the Sábana Grande region, is a company that is dedicated to the precast concrete segment. The company, founded just in 2018, is registered under the trade name of Duroblock, and is owned by Norman Walter Vélez Castillo, an unknown builder in this field but who has a close friendship with Santiago Chávez Sequeira, the supercontractor of the Mayor’s Office of Managua, whose companies were illegally favored with more than 34 million 553 thousand 895 dollars between 2016 and 2022, by the all-powerful secretary of the Mayor’s Office of the capital, Fidel Moreno.
“We are a company that was born as a new alternative in the precast industry with qualified Nicaraguan labor to meet all the requirements required by the Nicaraguan Mandatory Technical Standard (NTON) and requirements of the Nicaraguan market,” the company details on its page. Web.
Despite being a relatively new company, DuroBlock is quite a reference for the five large contractors of the municipality that operate under the blessing of Fidel Moreno. According to the testimony of three sources consulted for this article, the success of Vélez Castillo lies in the years-long friendship that he has with the supercontractor Chávez Sequeira, and the approval of the secretary of the Mayor’s Office for his operation.
For this report, Article 66 interviewed sources from the municipality and Duroblock employees, who, in addition to knowing Vélez Castillo personally, confirmed his close relationship with Chávez Sequeira since before 2018, when the company was founded.
Chavez Sequeira, according to an investigation carried out by the media outlet Divergentes in September 2020, it has the blessing of the “almighty secretary of the Managua Mayor’s Office”, who has delivered dozens of projects in the Simplified Contracting modality, a process contemplated for emergency situations, but which has been “used in a irregular to benefit this and other businessmen” with a feast of millionaire projects.
«Since its creation, Duroblock has functioned as a subcontractor in public works projects awarded to Chávez Sequeira. For control or surveillance they built the warehouse in front of Concretos y Más, in Sábana Grande. But all the meetings are held at the supercontractor’s company,” said a source from the municipality.
Over the months, Duroblock was not only subcontracted by Chávez Sequeira in the projects he was executing, but other businessmen, who make up the “Fidel Moreno construction cartel”, also requested their services.
The cartel is a group of businessmen who, according to another divergent investigation cooperates with each other, and has received, illegally using the figure of simplified contracting and with hand tenders from 2016 to 2023, at least “78 million dollars to build parks, streets, houses or buildings and dozens of public works ordered by the municipality ».
«Duroblock is the company to which the other companies subcontract to develop the projects in Managua. If houses need to be built, they look to Duroblock to provide beams and other materials. If they are going to pave a road, they ask for the paving stones,” explained another municipal source who, like the others, requested anonymity for obvious reasons.
The genesis of Duroblock and the first aids
According to one of the informants, close to Vélez Castillo, Duroblock is a “satellite” company of Chávez y Chávez Sociedad Anónima, and Concretos y Más, both owned by Chávez Sequeira. «They put it in the name of Norman Vélez to protect future operations in the country. Remember that in July 2018 they sanctioned Fidel Morenoso it was a way of shielding himself in advance, “explained the source.
“They want to have it as a start-up in case the United States sanctions Santiago Chávez, or his companies Chávez and Chávez, or even Concretos & Más. They have it as a startupwith a lower profile, but ready so that its operations are not affected”, deduced one of the informants who knows the operation from the inside.
Hegemony and control of the “round deal”
The former Duroblock worker also confirmed that the “original idea” to create the company came from Chávez Sequeira. According to this source, the “supercontractor” wanted, in addition to shielding the operations, to have an option at hand to have materials at a lower cost and for the business to be woven into the same circle.
«With the creation of Duroblock, Chávez Sequeira not only participates in tenders for municipal works with his two companies registered in his name, he also does so with the company of Vélez Castillo. But not only that, he also guarantees that the materials of these constructions that are executed in the city and other departments are bought from the company of his ‘friend’. It is a round business, “said the source of the municipality.
On its website, Duroblock details that it is a new alternative with quality products and low cost that is very useful for large infrastructure works that are built in the municipality. According to the information published on the digital site, he has participated in the construction of the Panaloya Bridge, El Borbollón, El Pedernal and the one on Calle 25, all executed in Managua.
Article 66 He has in his possession a document that proves not only the execution of alternate works of a sanitary sewerage megaproject developed in Juigalpa, Chontales, by a consortium led by Chávez Sequeira, but also receipts for the purchase of materials made precisely for Duroblock.
The consortium was made up of four companies, including Chávez y Chávez Construcciones, Sociedad Anónima and Concretos y Más, Sociedad Anónima, both owned by businessman Chávez Sequeira. For contractual reasons, according to the same document, it was called the C+ Consortium.
“This project was carried out with funds from the Korean bank Eximbank. They looked for two more companies to integrate the consortium and cope with the works and then the feast began. Trucks loaded with material that was purchased precisely for this mega work left Duroblock, “explained the source from the municipality.
The invoices held by Article 66 detail that the C + Consortium purchased material for amounts of 14,000, 16,000 and up to 20,000 dollars. The detail exposes that Duroblock charged amounts of more than 4 thousand dollars for the transportation of paving stones. Sometimes these amounts were similar to the cost of the inputs themselves.
“It’s a brutal business. Imagine that the inputs for all the works of the municipality are purchased from a single company. How much profit does that represent? And since no one supervises them, then there is no one to stop them,” insisted the source from the municipality.
Greater role?
A worker from the company owned by Vélez Castillo explained that although everything went well during 2018 and 2019, in 2020 Duroblock had to take a greater role because the exposure suffered by Chávez Sequeira’s companies in journalistic investigations exposed the corrupt scheme of guaranteed businesses by the secretary of the municipality.
“It is not that Chávez Sequeira’s companies lost power. It’s not that. What happened is that by being placed before the public eye, they also expose themselves to sanctions like those that other government companies have had. Everyone continues to work the same but there are changes,” said the company worker.
Among these “maneuvers” is the change of assets from Chávez Sequeira’s companies to DuroBlock. The idea, according to the source, is to shield themselves so that in the face of a possible sanction they can get rid of what they have without sales or banking restrictions.
Until now Duroblock has kept a low profile operation in the municipal tenders. The construction cartel companies still get the works. “But it is striking that little by little it is getting into things that are not typical of a company of its ‘level’ so to speak,” said the municipal source.
One of those low-level works, with respect to the experience that the company claims to have on its website, is the “supply and placement of electrical boxes” in public spaces in the historic center of Managua.
Documents held by Article 66 reveal that this project, granted in March 2023, was for an amount of 500 thousand 835 córdobas and was a unique offer. That is, no other company appeared to participate in the process.
«They are waiting for a sanction. I don’t know if the other companies in the group (related to Moreno) are doing the same. But what I can confirm is that Chávez is preparing himself, and taking into account that he is Fidel Moreno’s darling, then so is he, “concluded the municipal source.
