Three individuals have been apprehended in the case of the lithium pools, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

 So far, three individuals have been apprehended in the investigation into the industrial evaporation pools of Bolivian Lithium Deposits (YLB), reported Cesar Siles, the Attorney General of the State, on Tuesday.

"Not only is Mr. Luis Arberto Echazú (former Minister of Mining and former national manager of Evaporitic Resources) apprehended, but three individuals have been apprehended so far in this investigation," he said.

On April 18, the executive president of YLB, Karla Calderón, filed a formal complaint with the Public Ministry for the alleged commission of crimes including damaging contracts to the state, breach of duties, uneconomic conduct, and breach of contracts due to an alleged economic damage of more than Bs 425 million.

The Prosecutor's Office decided to participate in this criminal process, according to Siles, due to the "serious economic damage to the state" and because they are "serious acts of corruption."

He pointed out that, in general terms, three incidents are being investigated: poorly elaborated or designed technical specifications, poorly executed supervision or oversight of contract execution, and the lack of maintenance on the 18 pools.

He added that a commission of three prosecutors is now investigating the case after a complaint with at least 4,020 attached pages was admitted.

He confirmed that there are 12 suspects in this investigative process and that arrest warrants have already been issued against all of them.

According to Siles, through requests made to the Immigration Department, it was established that "they all have significant and recent migratory flow," representing a flight risk, and furthermore, none of them, at least at this moment, has a stable or fixed job.

New Interpol Director Appointed After Scandal Involving Officers Accused of Extorting $200,000

 The Prosecutor's Office reported that a preliminary investigation has been opened against the accused for alleged crimes of extortion, bribery, and misuse of influence. 

Colonel Marco Alexeis Murguía Ramos assumed the position of the new director of the Interpol unit in Santa Cruz on Wednesday, replacing Colonel Willy Zeballos, following the disclosure of the accusation against officers accused of extorting $200,000.

Eight police officers were implicated in this crime against a Brazilian citizen. The victim filed a complaint, and the accused appeared yesterday to give their statement to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in the Specialized Department for the Fight Against Corruption (DELCC).

As a result, the Departmental Police Command ordered that the accused, including colonels holding high positions, be removed from their duties and undergo disciplinary proceedings.

"On superior instructions, we are assuming this departmental leadership with the aim of continuing public service, in light of the various procedures carried out for both national and foreign citizens," stated Murguía.

Regarding the complaint, the new head of Interpol expressed that it is under investigation by DELCC and the Internal Intelligence department, who will determine the circumstances.

The Case

On Sunday, January 26, agents from the Special Force for the Fight Against Violence (Felcv) arrived at a condominium located on the 7th ring of Cristo Redentor Avenue to address a complaint of alleged domestic violence.

While on the premises, the officers observed that the accused was a Brazilian citizen identified as Henrique Lucas de Souza, who did not have his documentation. Therefore, they reported the incident to Interpol for further action.

Upon receiving this information, Interpol dispatched a group of officers to the location, and they attempted to extort $200,000 from the Brazilian.

Prosecutor's Investigation

The assigned prosecutor for the case, Mirtha Mejía, stated that a preliminary investigation has been opened for the alleged crimes of extortion, bribery, and misuse of influence, with the police officers identified as the alleged perpetrators.

"We have not yet individualized the accusations as two police units were involved," said the prosecutor.

Audit reveals that 'Quotas in installments' caused damage of $US 14.5 million to the cooperative

 The review found former executives of the telephone company responsible for the millionaire swindle. The cooperative indicates that they are still presenting their resignations and that the report is not the final one. Afcoop reminds to show the figures to members.

The figures are cold, hard, clear and above all revealing. Documentation to which EL DEBER had access reveals that the swindle in Cooperativa de Telecomunicaciones Santa Cruz R.L. (Cotas) occurred in 2019 - within the membership loyalty program 'Cotas en Cuotas' - reaches $us 14.5 million. It even determines that there is criminal liability of former senior executives of the institution.

The information in the first paragraph is based on data from an external audit conducted by a company hired by the cooperative. EL DEBER accessed the expertise that reviewed the commercial agreements for the supply of electronic equipment, signed in the 2017 and 2018 managements with the suppliers of 'Cotas en Cuotas'.

"The integrity of the operations related to Cotas R.L. equipment orders to suppliers, deliveries made with suppliers to members, users and/or beneficiaries of Cotas, supplier payments, equipment balances in the cooperative's warehouses, reconciliations and other documents related to the program were analyzed," states part of the auditing firm's report to Cotas.

The document is 45 pages long and was sent on March 12, 2020 to Cotas' directors by the company Asimco S.R.L. It is not known if that is the total losses, given that the operator hired another company to audit the development of the program between the years 2010 and 2016.

Background

In 2019, Cotas denounced that through this program, which sought to build loyalty among its members by making it easier for them to purchase electronic equipment on credit, a group of officials made fictitious requests, and then diverted and sold the devices on the black market, without them reaching the cooperative's members.

The program sought to generate profits from the sale of the equipment on credit by charging the cost to the members' invoices.

When the case came to light, a preliminary damage of US$ 7.7 million was calculated. The Public Prosecutor's Office then opened an ex officio proceeding, which was later joined by the cooperative. More than a dozen people were charged, including Cotas executives and private individuals. A date for the oral trial is awaited.

Results of the audit

The audit reviewed the contracts signed with eight suppliers, in three of them no irregularities were found, and the amounts and quantity of equipment were less than Bs 60,000. But it did detect economic damage in the operations with the other five. 

The companies observed are Antelo Service Import Export, Boto SRL, Electrónica de Consumo Sure LTDA, Media Market SRL and Daher Importaciones, Exportaciones y Representaciones, with the latter Cotas had a process that culminated in a conciliation, which was even observed by the audit, for favoring former executives involved in the damage to the telephone company.

Between 2017 and 2018 the equipment suppliers delivered devices for a value of Bs 120.5 million ($US 17.31 million). The amount corresponds to fictitious and real requests.

Of that total, only Bs 13.7 ($us 2 million) went to cooperative members. While Bs 106.7 million (US$ 15.3 million) were diverted. The Attorney General's Office described this as a criminal association within the operator, made up of middle and senior executives.

The highest amounts were recorded in two contracts. The first one with Media Market to which Cotas delivered Bs 41.7 million (US$ 5.9 million). The company even demanded an additional Bs 1.5 million (US$ 215,517) from the cooperative.

The second was with Daher. Cotas paid Bs 29.3 million (US$ 4.2 million) to this supplier, but the company demanded an additional payment of Bs 22.03 million (US$ 3.1 million). The balance was reconciled, establishing that Cotas should pay Bs 18 million (US$ 2.6 million).

The report details that Antelo Service Import Export delivered products worth Bs 11.1 million - equivalent to US$ 1.5 million - but only Bs 2.4 million reached the partners. The rest was diverted. This supplier was paid Bs 7.9 million.

While in the contract with Boto SRL it was detected that items for Bs 4.4 million (US$ 632,183) were shipped, only Bs 1.04 million reached the users. In the operation, Cotas disbursed Bs 2.9 million (US$ 416,666).

The same anomalies were discovered with the operations with Electrónica de Consumo Sure Ltda., which delivered merchandise in the amount of Bs 9.1 million. Only Bs 446,316 reached the members, but the telecommunications cooperative paid Bs 6.5 to the firm. 

The auditing company claims that the officials responsible for the program changed the way the equipment was delivered.

For example, a device could only be delivered through a request made by the member, user or beneficiary. The procedure was simple: the interested person went to the cooperative, asked for a voucher, chose the equipment of his preference and handed in his personal documents.

This system was changed by allowing the Marketing Director to make requests by e-mail, including in one order many devices.

The expert report notes that in order to approve the payment of the diverted units, an accounting adjustment was made, even though the data did not coincide with the reports on the characteristics of the devices, but with the value of the devices. The anomaly was not observed by any company filter.

In addition, there were disbursement authorization levels. For example, transactions up to US$ 5,000 were approved by the Economy and Finance Manager, the Management Director, the Accounting Director or the Treasury Deputy Director.

When they reached $US 10,000, they were authorized by the general manager, the manager of Economy and Finance, the manager of Administration or Human Resources, or the manager of Technological Innovation, with two joint or indistinct signatures.

And if they exceeded $US 10,000, the ones who ordered to pay were the president of Cotas (at that time Iván Uribe), the treasurer of the Board of Directors (at that time José Daniel Hurtado, current president of Cotas) and the General Manager, a position held by Saúl Antelo Torrico.

"The irregular actions of the officers and former officers of Cotas RL who participated in the operations and of the president and treasurer of the Board of Directors, as well as the general manager, who signed checks giving course to the irregular payments, were also responsible for the economic damage of Bs 101.3 million, equivalent to US$ 14.5 million," says the auditing firm. 

Responsibilities

The technical expertise concludes that there are criminal liabilities of 11 former officers and senior executives of Cotas. This list even includes the current president of the Board of Directors, who was previously treasurer of the cooperative, José Daniel Hurtado.

Also on the list is Hubert Gil, former Marketing Director, Javier Vaca Díez, former Marketing Manager, Saúl Antelo, former General Manager, and the former President of the institution, Iván Uribe, among others.

According to the audit, "they carried out adulterated reconciliations and manipulated the company's computer systems to make the payment, cunningly accounting to hide accounting figures and signing the checks that gave rise to the irregular payment".

Cotas affirms that these people have not yet been released.

The importers are not left out. The five supplier companies "acted outside of what was established in the contracts signed with Cotas" within the program, contributing "to the economic damage exposed in the audit report".

The cooperative did not deny the content of the expertise and said that the reports of both audits (including the one from 2010-2016) were submitted to the Internal Audit Management of Cotas, which validated the information and then forwarded it to the Regulatory Authority in Cooperatives (Afcoop) for review and joint signing of the act of conformity, as provided for in the technical specifications of the regulatory body.

By the end of 2020, Afcoop was expected to return the reports and working papers. However, this did not happen due to another change of government at the national level, which implied the replacement of officials of the regulatory body", they indicated.

In a statement they add that on March 3 the reports, including the working papers, were sent to Cotas. "As appropriate, the Board of Directors has referred all this documentation to the Supervisory Board so that the work corresponding to the final stage of the process can be coordinated," they say.

Cotas adds that the corresponding disclosures must be made and, based on this, the independent auditing firms will formulate their final conclusions. And once this process has been completed, the partners will be informed. Regarding the criminal proceeding, they said that it is still ongoing and that a trial date is expected.

However, a letter sent by Afcoop to Cotas on February 22 of this year states that it has already returned the documentation. In addition, the letter also ordered the cooperative to disclose the results of the audit to its members, as required by law.

Case items: Brazil and Panama admit extradition of Parada brothers

 The Public Prosecutor's Office affirms that all the requirements requested by both countries have been complied with, so now they are waiting for an official response.

The Public Ministry confirmed this Wednesday that all the requirements were sent, both to Brazil and Panama, for the extradition of the brothers Antonio and Guillermo Parada, main accused in the case of phantom items in the Santa Cruz City Hall, therefore, they are now waiting for the official response.

"It has already been made on the part of the country of Brazil the admission of the request for extradition of Antonio Parada, so the Public Ministry already complied with all the requirements, for its part, also the Chancellery, since we have been working together with them. At this moment, we only have to wait for Brazil's answer", indicated the prosecutor Marcela Terceros, in contact with Gigavisión.

She pointed out that in the case of Panama, to extradite Guillermo, the extradition request was already admitted by the local authorities and now it only remains to wait for the answer.

"This no longer depends on us, because we have complied with all the requirements that have been demanded for Parada's extradition. We are waiting for the response so that the prosecutor's office can continue with the investigations and thus make a conclusive request to give a prompt response to the population", indicated Terceros.

"Tony" Parada, the main investigated in the case of ghost items, has a temporary political refuge in Brazil. While his brother Guillermo was apprehended at the Panama airport when he was trying to travel to the United States at the end of December 2021.

Governor of Potosí is listed as buyer of the 'ghost ambulances'; they arrive this Friday in Chile

 The main observation of the failed contracting process was linked to the signing of a receipt for the 41 vehicles, which stated that the units arrived in Boliva but it was not true. 44 arrived instead of 41.

The ambulances that were acquired late last year in an irregular manner by the Governor's Office of Potosí will arrive this Friday at the Chilean port of Iquique. The shipment will arrive in the name of Governor Jhonny Mamani, despite the fact that the company Estefals Logistics had been awarded the contract. An interesting fact is that 44 vehicles arrived, according to the report, despite the fact that the purchase was for 41.

According to the cargo manifest generated by Chilean Customs and to which EL DEBER had access, these vehicles were shipped to the Jebel Ali port in the United Arab Emirates. The import documentation includes a piece of paper with the letterhead of Estefals Logistics, the company that was awarded the supply of the motorcycles, and the name of the buyer, who is the first authority of Potosí.

The origin of the motorcycles, as stated in the manifest, is Japan and they were sent by the company Ghassan Aboud Car Trading. The company that will receive them in Chile is Harmony, which is not a Toyota importer for Bolivia. Humberto Huanca, the owner of Estefals, worked with these companies to obtain the contract with the governor of Potosi, who is now listed as the buyer of the ambulances.

EL DEBER attempted to contact Jhonny Mamani, but his office indicated that the authority would not comment on the matter as they are awaiting the results of the investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office

On January 23, after the disclosure of irregularities in the contracting process, Governor Mamani alleged "force majeure" reasons to cancel the contract with Estefals Logisticis.

The main observation of the failed contracting process was linked to the signing of a receipt for the 41 vehicles. This document attested to the arrival of the vehicles, but none of these units had touched Bolivian soil on December 31, 2021, the date on which they were "received" by government personnel.

On that day, checks were also issued in favor of Humberto Huanca's company, but the process was rejected by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, according to the investigation carried out by this newspaper.

"The ambulances will arrive, but there will be no owner to receive them. The logos of the Governor's Office of Potosí will be removed," said Huanca after Mamani's decision to cancel the contract and then added: "The ambulances were conditioned in Dubai, according to the Ministry of Health's regulations. We are going to have to sell them to private institutions, hospitals." "We are going to have to look for a client who wants them," he insisted.

Huanca then said that the capital with which he operated was from "a supplier" whom he did not identify and pointed out that his purpose was not to lose the Bs 1.5 million he credited for the guarantee bond. His company was created, according to Fundempresa documents, in September 2021 with a capital of Bs 100,000, an amount that covers 25% of the price that was to be paid for a motorized vehicle.

Huanca testified at the end of February at the Public Prosecutor's Office in Potosí. There he presented himself as a "seller" and not as a vehicle importer. He pointed to Osvaldo Mariscal as the "supplier" of the 41 ambulances. However, this third implicated party is not in the contract 215/2021 signed by the governor in November 2021.

Report: Military stole Bs 2.7 MM from two bond payments

 The cashier of the Viacha regiment detailed that between 2012 and 2013 he delivered the embezzled money to Juan José Zúñiga, current Army Chief of Staff.

A report addressed to the Army commander, Fernando Zeballos, in 2013, revealed that that year the head of the 23 Max Toledo Regiment in Viacha, Juan José Zúñiga, received 2,780,465 bolivianos illegally. According to the document, the money came from the systematic theft of funds destined to the payment of the Juancito Pinto and Renta Dignidad bonds.

Zúñiga, current Army Chief of Staff, was promoted to the rank of general on February 11 by President Luis Arce, in an act that, according to the military, "broke the military hierarchy in the Armed Forces (FFAA)". The uniformed questioned the promotion due to the fact that the officer does not meet the requirements and had a summary executed for the robbery in 2013.

In addition, the active duty military accused Zúñiga of leading a group of uniformed men called "Pachajchos", dedicated to smuggling.

Viacha

The report of the systematic theft was issued on November 28, 2013 by Warrant Officer Porfirio Quispe, designated as cashier in that military unit.

"During the 2012 and 2013 managements, by order of Lieutenant Colonel Juan José Zúñiga Macías, (...) I proceeded to deliver to that superior officer all the balances corresponding to food, payment Renta Dignidad, Juancito Pinto, fuel and others. I do not know the purpose for which they were destined", states the first point of the eight that appear in the document.

Next, the cashier detailed the amount of money given to Zúñiga, which should have been used to buy groceries, meat, vegetables and gas between January and October 2012. One column shows the "balance" of the bonus money, which added up to 344,942 bolivianos, including amounts for the months of May and June 2013.

Item 3 states that, according to superior orders, Zúñiga was to form groups of soldiers to go to the towns of Laja, Charaña, Santiago de Callapa and San Pedro de Curahuara, "at which points they were never paid, they were only paid in the city of Viacha (the discharges) to account for this effect, such as the certifications of the authorities, which were ordered to be made by order of the commander (Zúñiga)," the cashier detailed.

This item lists another eight amounts totaling 60,229 bolivianos, also given to Zúñiga.

Point 4 explains that the balances of the Juancito Pinto bonus were reversed, but not the money destined for "operating expenses", which remained in the officer's possession and totaled 69,344 bolivianos.

In the same paragraph, it is stated that up to that date, Zúñiga had in his hands 2,355,000 bolivianos, "as well as for the payment of per diem and operating expenses in the amount of Bs 58,294". In the fifth point, the cashier revealed that in addition to this money, Zúñiga also embezzled 70,950 Bolivianos that were destined to cover the "maneuvers (military demonstration) in Patacamaya".

On the last two points, the cashier claimed that he was the victim of threats and intimidation against his family members. He wrote that Zúñiga claimed that General Luis Begazo was following him because of suspicions that he was involved in drug trafficking and that he was suspended from his post without explanation.

Página Siete published on February 11 the result of the military summary executed in January 2014 against 13 military personnel involved in this robbery. The maximum sanction was seven days of arrest imposed against Zúñiga and the cashier.

To date, the Minister of Defense, Edmundo Novillo, has not commented on the allegations against Zúñiga, but high-ranking officials confirmed to this newspaper that the military's background was reported to President Luis Arce in September 2021. 

I owe nothing

    Counterpart Consulted on the summary against him, for the alleged embezzlement of the money from the Juancito Pinto and Renta Dignidad bonuses, General Juan José Zúñiga affirmed that it is all "a vile lie, a vile slander". He assured that in order to be promoted to each position, certifications must be presented and that he would have the documents that prove that he does not owe anything, "I have never owed a single cent", of the Juancito Pinto and Renta Dignidad bonuses.

    Generals Zúñiga affirmed that 10 of the 12 generals who were promoted with him, resort to these "desperate" actions to replace him.

Studied, passed; but says he lacked $us 15,000 to be appointed judge

 The evaluation of candidates for the position of judges was carried out between December 2020 and May 2021, amid complaints about the election of some who had low grades and did not meet the requirements.

In the midst of the judicial crisis due to corruption and the growing distrust in the operators of justice, a renowned lawyer told of the bitter experience he went through in the application process to opt for the position of Criminal Instruction Judge of La Paz, due to the fact that his extensive trajectory, his academic merits and the good grades he obtained in the evaluations were not enough, but that he failed to "contribute" 15 thousand dollars for a supposed "recommendation" that would allow him to access the judicial appointment.

Justo Contreras (conventional name, because the lawyer asked Página Siete to keep his identity confidential to avoid reprisals in his work) applied, along with 302 other lawyers, to the call launched by the Magistrates Council, in December 2020, to opt for a position in the judicial administration for La Paz.

The candidate thought that all applicants would be evaluated under the same conditions, as required by the regulations of the Judicial Career System: "During the selection process of candidates for judges, transparency and access to information in a truthful, timely, understandable and reliable manner will be guaranteed in each of its phases".

The candidates had to pass several phases to access the position of judges: the qualification of merits (40 points), competence test (60 points), psychological evaluation (recommended/not recommended) and the interview (referential).

Contreras gathered all his documents to accredit his curriculum vitae, in which he had to certify his work experience in the legal field, academic level, postgraduate courses, among others. He also had to certify that he does not have a history of violence, a final charge sheet, cases of prohibition and incompatibility, not having been dismissed in a disciplinary process and others.

Página Siete reviewed the qualification process of the first phase of evaluation of the applicants and attorney Contreras was "qualified" to pass to the next phase.

However, "many who were dismissed, have passed, I do not know how they did it, but they passed and have been enabled," said the jurist, seeing in the next stage candidates who had been previously dismissed in a judicial instance.

The next test was the competency examination. The qualified candidates from different regions of the country had to travel to Sucre to take the written test at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Mayor, Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier.

Contreras said that the exam consisted of 60 questions and there was a three-hour period to complete the test. He said that the exam was very complex and complicated to solve, but there were some who completed the exam in half an hour. Here the candidates had to obtain a high score to qualify for the next phase.

According to the exam scores, the lawyer obtained a score above 40 points, which enabled him to proceed to the next stage.

He mentioned that the psychological evaluation was carried out at the Bar Association of La Paz, for the applicants of this region, which he also passed successfully and was qualified, as shown in the evaluation form. 

Contreras reached the final phase: the interview. This stage took place at the Council of the Magistracy, in Sucre, from April 7 to 10, 2021. Each applicant had to be interviewed individually on issues concerning ethics, office management and proposal. The parameters to be graded were Good (B) and Regular (R), and those who did not attend were simply given NSP.  

The jurist obtained a B (Good), according to the report card. And with this stage, all the tests that began in December 2020 ended and should conclude with the possession of the new best qualified judges, in an event scheduled for June 2021.

He said that once the test was concluded, he returned to La Paz to continue his work. Weeks later he received a call in which he was summoned to the Departmental Court of Justice, in reference to the tests he had passed to access the position of judge.   

"A judge (of criminal matters) called me and summoned me to the Departmental Court of Justice to ask me for that money. He told me, just in case, the 15 thousand dollars is not only for me", assured the lawyer, detailing that the mentioned judge had indicated him that those resources were supposedly going to be distributed among the three instances that have to do with the justice area.

He explained that in that meeting he was told why he applied for a court that was "very desirable", since there were so many others in civil and family matters. He was also told that they were in charge of making a "recommendation" report for those who were going to access the position, since it was not enough the tests approved in the qualification process, but he had to put the 15 thousand dollars for the designation.

The lawyer told that it was impossible to pay that amount of money, besides he did not see it ethical to do that to access a position that has the responsibility of administering justice.

"I did not agree, and a week later the judges have been appointed to this position", he said.

According to the affected party, the judicial authority who called him was a "collector" who collected these amounts for others, who were hiding behind him so as not to be involved in corruption. 

Judges observed

    2020-2021 Different lawyers questioned the appointment of the former departmental prosecutor of La Paz, Edwin Blanco Soria, to the position of judge, due to the fact that three other applicants obtained better qualifications, and he is also investigated for concealing evidence in the case of Jhiery Fernández.

    2021-2022 The lawyer Jorge Valda denounced that Marco Antonio Vargas and Liz Avilés, judges who will judge Jeanine Añez, acceded to the position in an irregular way, with low grades.