Tank truck scandal: The key piece in the contracts of the tank truck case that did not reach the Prosecutor’s Office

This week has been crucial for the Prosecutor’s Office. Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla, former directors of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd), arrived at the bunker in search of a principle of opportunity that would allow them to receive judicial benefits. This negotiation depends on the information they can provide about others involved in the corruption scheme that compromises the entity for alleged cost overruns in the purchase of tank trucks to bring water to La Guajira. A scandal that has even touched government officials and congressmen. The one who did not attend the meeting with the investigating entity was Luis Eduardo López Rosero, an old acquaintance in the Unit and who was left with the contract for the purchase of the vehicles.

López, better known as the “pastuso”, since most of his businesses are concentrated in Pasto, where he is also a native, was confirmed for his meeting with the Prosecutor’s Office this Wednesday, May 8, but at no time did he step foot in the bunker. His lawyer did not appear either. However, sources close to the process told this newspaper that the contractor would have a new representative: criminal lawyer Francisco Bernate. In any case, Luis Eduardo López’s call responds to the information he would have about the contracts signed between the Unit and the company Impoamericana Rogers SAS, which is also in the sights of the judicial authorities for having kept the contract for the tank trucks that there would have been cost overruns.

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The name Luis Eduardo López is not new to control entities. On October 29, 2020, the contractor was charged by the Comptroller’s Office due to another case of corruption: cost overruns in humanitarian aid delivered during the covid-19 pandemic. Luket SAS was one of the companies that ended up entangled in that scandal and for which López is its legal representative. His name is not new to the Ungrd either, since for 15 years he has been a contractor with the Unit. Without going too far, Luket SAS was one of the companies invited by the former director of the entity, Olmedo López, to participate in the tender for the purchase of the tank trucks that ended up parked at a military base in Uribia (La Guajira).

There are several details that bring the “pastuso” closer to irregularities in the contracting for the purchase of vehicles. As revealed W Radio Last March, López also appears as the legal representative of Brand SAS, another company that was invited by Olmedo López to award the contract for the purchase of the tank trucks. When reviewing the details of the company, the radio outlet found that the main shareholder of the company is Sandra Liliana Brand Pantoja, wife of Luis Eduardo López. Her daughter, in fact, also appears as a substitute legal representative of Kalmo SAS, a company that, in turn, gave Impoamericana SAS more than $50 million to pay for part of the tank trucks.

Get to know: El Espectador explains what is known about the corruption scandal at the UNGRD

Hence, when the tank truck scandal broke out, López was mentioned in the documents obtained by the Prosecutor’s Office regarding irregularities in the contracting process. In the end, Impoamericana SAS won the tender for the purchase of the 40 tank cars, in which alleged cost overruns of more than $20,000 million were presented. The company, when presenting its offer, offered more than $1.2 billion for each mobile unit, for which a total of $48 billion would have been paid. The alarms went off for the authorities, not only because of the high costs, but also because of the company’s inexperience in the sector and its delicate financial state, since it had a capital of barely $200 million.

This panorama was also analyzed by the Attorney General’s Office, which called López to testify this Thursday, May 9. For the Public Ministry, listening to the contractor in the midst of the tank truck scandal “could provide greater elements of judgment when evaluating the present disciplinary action” against the former director of the Ungrd, Olmedo López, and the former deputy director, Sneyder Pinilla. . With these elements, the contractor would also seek to avail himself of a principle of opportunity before the Prosecutor’s Office and talk about everything he knows, from the contractual field, in order to receive criminal benefits. However, uncertainty was sown in his house, since he did not show up for the appointment with the investigating entity.

In context: Luis Eduardo López, tank truck contractor, is summoned to testify in the Prosecutor’s Office

The one who did attend the Prosecutor’s Office facilities, on Wednesday, May 8, was Sneyder Pinilla, who is increasingly approaching the beginning of opportunity. Sources who know the process of the former deputy director confirmed to this newspaper that so far his calls to the bunker have only led to rapprochements and that, for now, there is no formal proposal for a collaboration matrix on the table to start negotiating. With the details provided by Pinilla, until now reserved, it will be the responsibility of the Prosecutor’s Office to make a determination about the situation of the former deputy director and whether it is possible to guarantee a negotiation or, on the contrary, review what other alternatives could be established. So far, with no evidence in hand, his situation remains to be seen.

This week, fundamental for the Prosecutor’s Office, is ending with a no small detail: the call from the Investigative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice to Luis Fernando Velasco, Minister of the Interior; Carlos Ramón González, former director of Dapre; Carlos Carrillo, current director of the Ungrd and Sandra Ortiz, former presidential advisor for the regions, to testify. Senior government officials have already been mentioned in this corruption scandal, which has also hit Iván Name and Andrés Calle, presidents of the Legislature. The high court also ordered inspections of the Unit, Congress and the Attorney General’s Office to collect information that could be added to the investigations against the two congressmen. This is how the judicial files of the scandal of the moment are taking shape.

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