This arises from the resolution signed in the last few hours by the federal judge of San Isidro Sandra Arroyo Salgado, who prosecuted 19 suspects, including former executives of the company, police personnel and managers of the Entre Ríos electricity company. In addition, she placed an embargo on the assets of the accused until reaching the astronomical sum of almost 280,000 million pesos.
Internal investigation
The amount that would have been paid in bribes, according to the court file, arises from an internal investigation carried out by the company. According to the company’s audit, between 2013 and 2018, 300 “allegedly fraudulent” suppliers were used to evade taxes amounting to between $730,173,550 and $2,195,662,400.
Prosecuted, imprisoned and seized
Nine of the 19 defendants were processed with preventive detention. Among those who will continue to be detained while the investigation continues are the former CEO of the company, Jorge Christian Faria, and the brothers Marcelo and Claudio Tórtul, important businessmen from Entre Ríos.
The largest embargo was on Faria’s assets and amounts to 35,000 million pesos. In the case of each of the Tórtul brothers, the sum rises to 30,000 million pesos.
Among the 19 defendants there is a deputy commissioner of the Buenos Aires police, who serves in the Coordination Directorate, Departmental Administrative Delegations; a member of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) and two managers of the company Energía de Entre Ríos Sociedad Anónima (Enersa).
“Effective collaboration agreement”
“Securitas” agreed to pay a fine equivalent to the benefit it obtained as a result of the bribes, canceled a tax debt of 1,500 million pesos and purchased 1,100 kilos of meat that were delivered to parish soup kitchens in San Isidro and Entre Ríos. This was established in the “effective collaboration agreement” signed by the federal prosecutor of San Isidro Fernando Domínguez, in charge of the investigation, and representatives of the company.
The Prosecutor’s Office for Administrative Investigations (PIA), led by Prosecutor Sergio Rodríguez, and the Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Crime and Money Laundering (Procelac), led by Diego Velasco, collaborate in the investigation with Prosecutor Domínguez and his team.
The investigation began in February 2020 after a complaint made by representatives of Securitas Argentina in which they maintained that a group of former executives “abused and used the corporate structure, as well as their position in the market and the reputation of the group, for the sole purpose to obtain a benefit for themselves and, indirectly, for the companies they represented.”
At the time the complaint was made, “Securitas Argentina SA” was a subsidiary of the company “Securitas AB”, which offers security, monitoring, consulting and investigation services, with its main headquarters in Stockholm, capital of Sweden.
New owners and name change
Currently, the local subsidiary was acquired by a company with Argentine capital and a Latin American group specialized in emerging markets. Sources familiar with the investigation maintained that the new management has nothing to do with “improper payments.” The company is now called Securion.
“As a leading private security company in Argentina, we maintain a firm commitment to transparency and integrity in all our operations. Some time ago our internal audit produced worrying results when it detected irregularities within our own organization. Faced with this situation, we made an unprecedented decision in Argentine business history: we decided to go before the courts and report the illegal acts discovered. This action is a reflection of our commitment to responsibility and legality,” explained Securion.
In the middle of last month, by order of Judge Arroyo Salgado, and following the request of prosecutor Domínguez, the Buenos Aires Complex Crimes and Judicial Procedures Investigation Squad of the National Gendarmerie carried out a series of raids in Ezeiza, Tigre, Córdoba, Between Ríos and the city of Buenos Aires and kidnapped 19 vehicles, a motorcycle, 20 notebooks, 30 cell phones, 19 firearms, 2088 ammunition of different calibers, 232,165 dollars, 8845 euros, 114,000 Chilean pesos and 11,500,000 pesos.
Bribes, in detail
According to the complaint made by Securitas, the “improper payments” were the following:
Renaper: “The complainants said that the organization was a client of Securitas Argentina from 2011 to November 2015. In that sense, they reported that the internal investigation detected a series of alleged improper payments from the company to Renaper to obtain and maintain the contract and subcontracting for the provision of services. They added that the aforementioned payments would have been made in 2016 in order to maintain the contractual relationship and at the end of 2015 to cancel outstanding debts.”
Senasa: “According to the complainants, from December 2015 to May 2017, Securitas Argentina continued to be a supplier to Senasa through the subcontracting system by the firm Guardman SA. They stated that during the period between 2016 and 2018, allegedly improper payments were found to officials of the state agency that originated from the treasury of Securitas Argentina, in order to maintain the contracting of Guardman SA and explained that both the system of improper payments and the subcontracting were duly articulated so that Securitas Argentina continued to obtain the benefits of contracting with the public body.”
Unions: “The complainants indicated that the investigation allowed them to establish that some managers of Securitas Argentina SA had made improper payments to union delegates or general secretaries of different unions in order to obtain the hiring of Securitas Argentina for certain projects. In addition, they explained that the then treasurer said that payments would have been made to the Construction Workers’ Union of the Argentine Republic (Uocra) for Securitas Argentina services in the work that the union carried out in different YPF facilities and in the Alvear Hotel. , as well as to be able to provide security services in construction projects at the CCK and the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet).”
PDVSA: “With regard to the case, the complainants maintained that the firm Petrolera Cono Sur SA (PDVSA) was a client of Securitas Argentina between the years 2016 and 2018 and that, based on the investigation carried out, it was determined that during the period investigated there would have been made payments of $286,273 in order to maintain the existing contract between both firms so that Securitas could continue providing security services. The situation would have ceased in mid-2017, when the oil company’s service and the number of locations the company had were reduced.”
Entre Ríos Energy SA (Enersa): He was a client of Securitas SA between 2016 and 2018. “The complainants stated that the internal investigation allowed them to determine that cash payments had been made to maintain the contract and that the cash had been obtained through an alleged fraudulent supplier named Tornell SA. which, although it billed, would not have provided any specific service. The firm issued monthly invoices in favor of Securitas Argentina for consulting services.”
AySA: According to the internal investigation, the security company paid a commission to keep the contract in force. The amounts of money that were paid between 2014 and 2018 were recorded in an Excel document, on average $1,300,000 per month.
Qualifications case: “The complainants reported that the internal investigation revealed that in the period between 2016 and 2018, ‘improper payments’ had been made in order to obtain or accelerate the corresponding authorizations for security guards to the following organizations: Security Guard Registries of the city of Buenos Aires and the province of Buenos Aires, Argentine Naval Prefecture, Airport Security Police, the body for obtaining the legitimate user license (CLU) for firearms, the body for obtaining the certificate of carrying of weapons for security guards and for the renewal of the corresponding authorizations, government of the province of Buenos Aires and Automotive Property Registry of the province of Buenos Aires.”
Tucumán Police Case: “The complainants reported that the internal investigation allowed us to establish that, during the period between 2016 and 2018, ‘improper payments’ were made from the Central Regional office to members of the Police of the Province of Tucumán, in order to expedite the processes. authorization or have support in different controls, and during the years 2016 and 2017 the amount of said payments would amount to a total of 55,600 pesos.
Naval Prefecture Case: “The complainants indicated that the internal investigation revealed that in the period between 2016 and 2018, ‘improper payments’ had been made to the Naval Prefecture in order to facilitate Securitas Argentina with the corresponding authorizations for the guards and thus be able to operate in the port area of Buenos Aires, and during 2016 payments were made in the amount of $24,000.
Police Case of the province of Buenos Aires: The “contributions” were made to accelerate the qualification processes and obtain assistance and support in different tasks. The payments were authorized by the company directors and prepared from the treasury. Between 2016 and 2018, $332,905 would have been paid.
Case of the National Agency for Controlled Materials (ANMaC) and the Buenos Aires Provincial Registry of Weapons (Repar): “The complainants alleged that, according to the investigation team, improper payments had been made by Securitas Argentina to agents of the ANMaC and Repar in order to expedite the respective licensing and authorization processes for the security guards, and notify of previously and improperly the inspections that said organizations were to carry out in the firm, for a total amount of $1,826,000.”
Provincial Directorate for the Management of Private Security (Dpgsp) case of Buenos Aires: “The complainants explained that, between 2016 and 2018, payments would have been made to the Dpgsp for a total amount of $2,130,000, in order to expedite the licensing processes and be notified in advance of any inspection that said body should carry out. ”.
“At Securitas, today Securion, we are determined to learn from this experience and strengthen our culture of integrity and transparency. We will continue to work tirelessly to maintain our reputation as leaders in private security in Argentina, with solid values and an unwavering commitment to legality and business ethics,” it was stated in the aforementioned press release.
