In the two great public works that the former governor of La Libertad, César Acuña Peralta, awarded during his mandate to the company LC&EC Constructora for a total of S/315.6 millionthe Comptroller’s Office found acts of corruption.
On December 5 of this year, the first report on the construction project of the Virú hospital was issued, concluding that the officials who made up the Selection Committee of the Regional Government of La Libertad -Walter Zevallos Apolitano, Mario Rodríguez Miranda and Arturo Giles Mendoza-, manipulated the procedure to preferentially hire LC&EC Constructora, despite the fact that it did not comply with the contracting rules, on May 8 of this year.
In a second report, released on December 20 of this year, the Comptroller’s Office once again found illegal acts in a second project, this time the opening of the road corridor from Trujillo to the Huanchaco resort, on January 31 of this year.
As in the previous case, the audit determined that the members of the Selection Committee – Walter Zevallos Apolitano, Arturo Giles Mendoza and Julio Valeriano Murga – forged the process to award the work once again for the benefit of LC&EC Constructora.
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What is striking is that two members of the Selection Committee involved in the case of the award of the construction of the viaduct -Walter Zevallos Apolitano and Arturo Giles Mendoza- They are the same ones who have been accused in relation to the illegal bidding for the construction of the Virú hospital.: Zevallos and Rodríguez.
This would explain why these officials awarded the two contracts for S/315.6 million to the firm LC&EC Constructora, with only a difference of 3 months and 7 days, knowing the company’s lack of experience, instead of disqualifying it on the spot.
It was an investigation by the Sunday program “Panorama”, which in its edition of July 27, 2025 revealed that the owner of the company LC&EC Constructora is Lucero Coca Condori, a 23-year-old young woman, recently graduated from university, who lacked knowledge of the field and who was used by other construction companies to win contracts in different parts of the country, starting with La Libertad.
The audit indicates that in addition to the members of the Selection Committee, two other senior authorities are also responsible: the regional Contracting Manager, Dioselinda Polo Tirado, and the Regional Infrastructure Manager, Jorge Bringas Maldonado.
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To try to save his image, César Acuña dismissed Polo and Bringas, but only after the Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Corruption of Officials, opened a criminal investigation against those involved in this case of distribution of million-dollar public works.
With the new report from the Comptroller’s Office, it is confirmed that high-level officials appointed by former governor César Acuña are directly involved in the awarding of million-dollar contracts through rigged processes.
At first, Acuña tried to underestimate the journalistic publications that showed the favoritism oriented towards the LC&EC Constructora company. He then argued that it was a “smear campaign” to affect his political career. However, the facts indicated by the audit show that Lucero Coca’s company received preferential treatment for which several provisions of the State Contracting Law were violated.
For example, the characteristics of the work requirement, as well as the bidding rules, were modified to fit with LC&EC’s offer.
As if that were not enough, the supervision of the execution of the work was very poor and negligent, allowing the construction company to fail to comply with the progress of the project.
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Regional Government: “Confidence has been withdrawn”
- The general manager of the Regional Government of La Libertad, Rogger Ruíz Díaz, said that the entity “is respectful of the audit reports issued by the Control Body,” and that to date “it is evaluating the conclusions and/or recommendations with the purpose of initiating the demarcation of responsibilities and the other indicated actions.”
- Ruíz reported that the Deputy Manager of Studies (Arturo Giles Mendoza), the Deputy Manager of Works (Mario Rodríguez Miranda), the Infrastructure Manager (Jorge Bringas Maldonado) and the Contracting Manager (Dioselinda Polo Tirado), “have been removed from their trust as officials so that the procedure is carried out with total transparency.”
