He shipment of 99.83 kilos of gold that belonged to “Peter Ferrari” has already been sold abroad for a figure that exceeds US$8 million, according to businessmen in the sector with knowledge of the operation. But the new millionaires are not the heirs of Pedro Pérez Miranda, real name of the deceased “Peter Ferrari”, on September 26, 2020.
The Million-dollar merchandise was in a warehouse of the Hermes cash transportation company, in Chorrillos. On March 20, 2015, at the request of the money laundering prosecutor, Ernesto Chávez Rodríguez, the Lima South Criminal Court ordered the seizure. But for a short time. “Peter Ferrari’s” cousin, David Miranda Pando, in charge of the Sumaj Orkro company, which claimed ownership of the mineral, managed to get the Permanent Criminal Court of Lima Sur to revoke the measure and return the 99.83 kilos of gold.
On that occasion, the defense of “Peter Ferrari” alleged that the gold was part of a controversy between Minera Sumaj Orkromanaged by his cousin David Miranda Pando, and the American company Kaloti Metals & Logistics, which had bought the 99.83 kilos from him and stored them in Hermes. When Kaloti could not pay for the merchandise, Sumaj Orkro, this is “Peter Ferrari”, requested a refund.
On September 26, 2020, “Peter Ferrari” died of Covid-19 without having managed to recover the 99.83 kilos of gold that was in the name of the front company Sumaj Orkro, managed by his cousin David Miranda Pando. Photo: The Republic
The golden track
For the authorities in charge of the case, the 99.83 kilos of gold corresponded to another larger shipment.
Indeed, In December 2013, the Sunat (National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration) seized 500 kilos of gold in the Talma warehouses.of which 316 kilos belonged to the firm Comercializadora de Minerales Rivero. This was one of the illegal gold export front companies that “Peter Ferrari” had, and that was managed by his nephew and gardener Miguel Rivero Pérez.
To recover the shipment, the defense of “Peter Ferrari” appealed to the head of the Mixed Court of CampoverdeUcayali, led by magistrate Wenceslao Portugal Cerruche, known for having belonged to the criminal network of lawyer Rodolfo Orellana Rengifo.
On January 3, 2014, Wenceslao Portugal granted “Peter Ferrari” an appeal for protection to have the 316 kilos of gold returned to him. That same day, the lawyers of the Orellana network, Colonel PNP (r) Benedicto Jiménez Bacca, and Blanca Paredes Córdova, appeared in Talma to withdraw the precious metal.
According to intelligence from the PNP Money Laundering Directorate (Dirila), of the 316 kilos of Comercializadora de Minerales Rivero, on January 7, 2014 – 4 days after the return -, the front man of “Peter Ferrari”, David Miranda sold 126.61 kilos of gold to the American company based in Miami, Kaloti Metal & Logistic, for US$4.6 million. He did it through Sumaj Orkro, the front company.
The next day, January 8, 2014, David Miranda himself deposited 99.83 kilos of gold in the warehouse of the cash transportation company Hermes, then valued at more than US$4.5 million. This The merchandise was part of the 316 kilos seized in December 2013 in the Talma warehouses. “Peter Ferrari” had sold the gold to Kaloti. This information was corroborated by former Sumaj Orkro worker, Cecilia Lazo García, before the authorities. Lazo reported that he accompanied David Miranda to Hermes to store the 99.83 kilos of gold and that it had been sold to Kaloti.
On January 9, 2014, as part of the Sunat investigation against “Peter Ferrari”, the 126 kilos of gold that were in the Talma warehouses and that had been sold by Sumaj Orkro to the American company Kaloti were seized.
The spurious origin of metal
On January 30, 2014, prosecutor Ernesto Chávez denounced Ferrari’s cousin, David Miranda Pando, for money laundering of funds obtained from the sale of illegal gold. During the investigation, the Prosecutor’s Money Laundering Investigation Department prepared a report in which it indicated that the 99.83 kilos of gold that Sumaj Orkro kept in Hermes and the other 126 kilos that he had in Talma, were part of the 316 kilos seized in December 2013 and that were recovered through a corrupt judicial decision by Judge Wenceslao Portugal Cerruche, of Ucayali. In both cases, Kaloti purchased the gold of illegal origin. But he couldn’t pay it.
Then a controversy arose between Sumaj Orkro, a front company for “Peter Ferrari”, and the North American Kaloti over the ownership of the 99.83 kilos that were in Hermes.
Once the shipment returned to David Miranda Pando, the front cousin of “Peter Ferrari” in charge of the company Sumaj Orkro, sold the shares and rights of the company to Mario Passano Gamarraa former Ferrari employee, on September 3, 2015.
From then on, Mario Passano became “procedural successor” and owner of the 99.83 kilos. With this judicial decision, the money laundering prosecutor’s office faced a new obstacle in the case against “Peter Ferrari” and his front men.
At the same time, investigations in the United States against “Peter Ferrari” were coming to fruition. On January 9, 2018, at a press conference, authorities from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced the discovery of a criminal organization dedicated to to the export of illegal gold and money laundering, led by Pedro Pérez Miranda, in complicity with employees of the company Kaloti Metals & Logistics.
The accusations are based on statements from witnesses from the Kaloti company. This incident confirmed that Ferrari and Kaloti were part of a scheme to sell gold of illegal origin. And it confirmed the suspicions of the Peruvian authorities that the gold that was stored in Hermes was of illegal origin, like everything that “Peter Ferrari” had sold to Kaloti.
Fair shortly after the North American authorities reported on the criminal organization of Pedro Pérez Miranda, the new owner of the goldMario Passano Gamarra, on March 27, 2018, granted 90% of the 99.83 kilo gold shipment to his son Giovanni Passano Vásquez, as an advance payment of inheritance. And 10% for Alberto Escudero Lozano, Mario Passano’s lawyer. In addition, Giovanni Passano and Alberto Escudero received all rights to the process for the recovery of the 99.83 kilos of gold.
While this was happening, on June 14, 2018, the Supreme Court granted the extradition request made by the United States of “Peter Ferrari” for the export of illegal gold and money laundering, in complicity with Kaloti.
More than three months later, on September 30, 2019, Giovanni Passano and Alberto Escudero managed to get the 33rd Civil Court of Lima to dissolve the contract between Sumaj Orkro and Kaloti and order the restitution of the gold to this company, remaining owners of the shipment. by “Peter Ferrari”. Kaloti appealed, but on June 14, 2022, the Third Civil Chamber of Lima confirmed the sentence for the benefit of Passano and Escudero.
By then, two years had passed since the death of “Peter Ferrari”, without having been tried for money laundering and illegal export of gold.
In this way, Passano and Escudero were authorized to arrange the fate of the 99.83 kilos of gold.
Coming out of the shadows
It is at this moment that lawyer Manuel del Castillo Hernández, son of former APRA congressman Jorge del Castillo Gálvez, entered the scene. Manuel del Castillo intervened so that the Hermes company delivered to Passano and Escudero the shipment of 99.83 kilos of gold that belonged to “Peter Ferrari.”
On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the Lawyer Manuel del Castillo Hernández, accompanied by Giovanni Passano Vásquez, entered the warehouses of the Hermes company to carry out “an inspection of the merchandise.”
Manuel Del Castillo arrived in the company of Cecil Griffiths Gutiérrez, Joaquín Gutiérrez Villena and Salvador Gutiérrez Villena: manager and representatives of Procesadora Sudamericana, a company dedicated to gold refining. It was obvious that they were interested in purchasing “Peter Ferrari’s” gold. Asked if Giovanni Passano sold his share of the 99.83 kilos, Manuel del Castillo responded to La República: “I think so, because they have paid me my fees.” Del Castillo also denied the illegal origin of the gold that belonged to “Peter Ferrari’s” front man, David Miranda Pando.
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The PJ refused to expand the case against Ferrari
On January 3, 2017, “Peter Ferrari” was arrested for the last time for organized crime and money laundering. Most of the time he was imprisoned in the Cochamarca prison, in Cerro de Pasco.
He June 5, 2020, he was released from prison at the end of the extension of preventive detention. which was issued by Judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office for Money Laundering had requested an additional 180 days of extension of the investigation against “Peter Ferrari”.
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Data
The sustenance. One of the reasons for the money laundering prosecutor, Ernesto Chávez Rodríguez, to request the seizure of 99.83 kilos of gold from “Peter Ferrari”, was that it was not true that the mineral came from the Alder 3 concession.located in Piura.
Testing. Prosecutor Chávez confirmed that the Alder 3 concession was not dedicated to the exploitation of gold but to copper. Furthermore, the plant did not have authorization to extract gold ore.
