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.

Arce up to his sleeves: the Government allocated Bs 5 MM to billboard advertising

 In the Movement Towards Socialism they justify "the investment", since they argue that, in view of the lack of information and disinformation, the population believed that the Executive was not doing anything.

Between November and December 2021, the Government allocated more than five million Bolivianos for the diffusion of advertising on billboards in several points of the country and on the sleeves of at least two airports, in which the image of President Luis Arce appears and points of his administration are highlighted.

In this regard, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) justifies "the investment", since they argue that the population believed that the Executive did nothing.

Página Siete had access to four contracts on the so-called Service for the diffusion of road advertising on billboards and two service orders for the diffusion of advertising on access sleeves. In the case of road billboards, the Government allocated 5.6 million Bolivianos; in the case of advertising for airport sleeves, it allocated 89,900 Bolivianos.

Street billboards

On November 22, 2021, the Ministry of the Presidency signed an administrative contract with the company Visioncreativa & Publicidad, for the "Road advertising broadcasting service on billboards", for 2,482,647 bolivianos.  

This was a direct contracting. The document specifies that the locations of the billboards are the following: 17 in Cochabamba, eight in La Paz, three in El Alto and 20 in Santa Cruz.

The Ministry of the Presidency, on November 22, 2021, signed another contract with the firm Overdigitalprint, for the broadcasting service of road advertising on billboards, for an amount of 641,920 bolivianos. 

This was also a direct contracting, with the following specifications of the location of the billboards: two in Beni, two in Cobija (Pando), three in Cochabamba, two in La Paz, four in Oruro, four in Potosí, three in Santa Cruz, four in Sucre and two locations in Tarija.

On December 6, 2021, the Ministry of the Presidency signed a contract with the company Vista Urbana, for the broadcasting service of road advertising on billboards, for an amount of 1,600,540 bolivianos.

Like the two previous contracts, this was a direct contracting.  The document specifies the addresses of the billboards: Cochabamba, in 18 locations; La Paz, in 27 locations; El Alto, in eight locations; in Potosí, in 11 locations; in Sucre, in 10 locations; in Tarija, in 14 locations; and in Cobija, in two locations.

On December 7, 2021, the Ministry of the Presidency signed another contract with Grupo Rivman Publicidad Corporativa for the billboard advertising broadcasting service, for 908,246 Bolivianos.  

This was a direct contracting, with the following specifications for the location of the billboards: 26 in Santa Cruz, three in Plan 3,000 (Santa Cruz), three in Sacaba (Cochabamba) and nine locations in Tarija and Villamontes. 

In the four cases, the respective Contract Closing Reports -all dated February 11- concluded that the companies complied with the terms, and therefore the "Final Conformity" was issued. 

Sleeves at airports

The service order OS/CM No. 768/2021, dated December 20, 2021, reports that the company Smarthprinter agreed to provide the "Advertising diffusion service in access handles" at the El Alto Airport, for 49,900 bolivianos. 

The Service Conformity Report states that on December 20, 2021, the supplier delivered the installation of the advertising material in the airport's access handles (Cabin 1, Cabin 2 and Cabin 3).

On the other hand, the service order OS/CM N°767/2021, also dated December 20, states that Smarthprinter agreed to provide the "Service of diffusion of management achievements - Viru Viru Santa Cruz International Airport", whose cost amounted to 40,000 bolivianos. 

According to the Service Conformity Report, on December 21, the supplier delivered the installation of the advertising material in cabin 4 and cabin 5 of the airport.

In contact with this media, Daniel Rojas, MAS deputy, justified "the investment" of the Government in this type of advertising. The legislator indicated that "in previous years" it was seen that in the absence of information and in the face of misinformation, the population believed that the Executive was not doing anything.

"Through the investment by the different mass media they will somehow be able to reach every corner of Bolivia and make known everything that is being done, all the works, projects and all the work that our government has been doing. It is not an investment in vain", he said.

Congressman Pablo Arizaga, from Comunidad Ciudadana (CC), commented that for the MAS government, propaganda was always more important. 

"It is not strange, this has been going on for many years, but it is really incongruent: public propaganda is more important than health and education for MAS," he said.

Political scientist José Orlando Peralta stated that Arce is assuming his role as President and at the same time seeks protagonism, with a propaganda style focused on a more technical look.  "Arce is assuming his condition of President and is also seeking protagonism through propaganda in his own way, with his own style, with a more technical perspective, because he always highlights the economic", he said.

And in this, the political analyst continued, he differs from former President Evo Morales, maximum leader of MAS. But the contrast is also in the discourse, because Arce does not seek confrontation within the party, but calls for unity. These indications, according to Peralta, lead to think that Arce would be inclined to run for reelection. 

Sixth day of blockade in Guarayos: Desperation among transporters who run out of food and water

Intercultural farmers no longer allow any vehicles to pass. There is desperation among the drivers who are carrying animals without food and water. The line is estimated to be 5 kilometers long. The government has not yet arrived at the site.

Drama in the Santa Cruz province of Guarayos. Without a break for the passage of vehicles, a long line of heavy transport trucks, approximately 5 kilometers long, was left halfway. Stranded, with cargo and animals, without water and food. 

Traffic on the highway that connects Santa Cruz with Trinidad has been closed for six days by a large group of intercultural peasants, settled in two communities - San Antonio del Junte and Cerro Grande - whose main demand is to seek justice for the death of young Franklin Delgadillo and a solution to the land conflict.

Óscar Llave, one of the many truck drivers stranded since Thursday night, told EL DEBER Radio about the hours of anguish and desperation they have had to live in the middle of the highway. 

"We are tired of waiting in these conditions. This situation is going to get out of control, there could be confrontations," he said in a brief interview. 

The line is so long, he continued, that from where he is he cannot see the area where the group of peasants is in the Cerro Grande community. 

Like the rest of those affected, he is asking the Government to take action, to solve the conflict and for the intervention of the Police.

Llave also indicated that since it is harvest time, there are shipments of rice and corn that must reach their destination to be distributed.

ABC registers seven blockades in Bolivia's main highways

 The Bolivian Highway Administration (ABC) reported up to 09.23 a.m. this Friday seven blockades due to social conflicts, four in La Paz, one in Beni and two in Santa Cruz.

In La Paz, the blockades are located on the Tambillo-Tihuanacu, Tihuanacu-Guaqui, Guaqui-Desaguadero and Nazacara-San Andrés de Machaca roads. 

The first three are obstructing transportation to Peru and are related to the communities' demand for the construction of the Río Seco-Desaguadero dual carriageway. The police announced hours ago that they are waiting for the order to intervene on these routes.

The blockade in Beni is on the Cerro Chico-Beni road, at the height of the San Pablo bridge. It is located close to one in Santa Cruz (Ascensión de Guarayos-Cerro Grande). Both are related to the conflict over the seizure of lands confiscated from U.S. businessman Jacob Ostreicher, a conflict that caused the death of one person last Saturday. The protesters are demanding that the authorities find those responsible for the death.

Another blockade in Santa Cruz is on the Buena Vista-Yapacaní highway and was set up to demand the school basket.

The ABC advised drivers to drive very cautiously, due to the rains on the roads.

In the sector of Puente Chaco-Puente Villa (La Paz), for example, the river overflowed, dragging material on the platform.

"In case of persistent rainfall or snowfall, stop and look for a widening until visibility conditions improve," he recommended. 

Award with her book of short stories 'You shine in the dark'.

 The prize is endowed with 25,000 euros (about 27,000 dollars). The jury's decision highlighted the great originality and expressive power of her work. This is the third book of short stories by the author from Santa Cruz.

Liliana Colanzi, with her book "Ustedes brillan en lo oscuro", has won the VII Ribera del Duero Prize for short stories, endowed with 25,000 euros (about 27,000 dollars), according to the jury's decision, which highlighted the great originality and expressive power of her work.

A jury chaired by Rosa Montero and also composed of Cristian Crusat and Marta Sanz, accompanied by Enrique Pascual, president of the Ribera del Duero D.O., and Juan Casamayor, editor of Páginas de Espuma, announced Wednesday the winning work among the 946 authors from 37 countries who submitted their books of short stories to this edition.

Colanzi beat four finalists: 'Una grieta en la noche', by Laura Baeza; 'Pombero', by Marina Closs; 'Un meteorito flamígero', by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, and 'Todo lo que aprendimos de las películas', by María José Navia.

Colanzi's book will go on sale in paper simultaneously in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico and Uruguay on May 11 in print and in ebook and audiobook worldwide.

Arce appeals to Allende and expects Boric to put an end to the cloistering of the country

The head of state vindicated the judgment of The Hague and said that without a solution to the sea issue there will be no reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Chile.

In his speech for the Day of the Sea, President Luis Arce quoted Salvador Allende, former socialist president of Chile, and said he hopes that his leftist counterpart Gabriel Boric, who presides over a progressive government, will put an end to the national isolation.

The president, in a ceremony held in the Abaroa square, also vindicated the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and expressed that it opens a new scenario in the bilateral dialogue.

"We call on the government of the sister republic of Chile to make their own the words of Salvador Allende and that remain alive in the hearts of many Chilean brothers and sisters: 'Chile has a century-old debt with Bolivia and we are willing to undertake a historic solution. Bolivia will return sovereign to the Pacific coast'", he said.

The president quoted Allende's words to writer Néstor Taboada Terán days after taking office in La Moneda. Allende was a leftist leader whose government was overthrown by a coup led by Augusto Pinochet. 

"We are sure," Arce added, "that sooner rather than later the injustice of our enclosure will be rectified and we will reconstitute our ancestral and sovereign relationship with the seas, a right with which we were born as Bolivia and which we will never renounce.

The act began when Arce arrived in the vicinity of the Abaroa square, which he entered flanked by Vice President David Choquehuanca; the president of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Freddy Mamani.

During his speech, the head of state stressed that recently took office in Chile as president Boric, who leads a progressive government, which adds to the constituent that develops in that country to change its constitutional text. 

"A progressive government has recently assumed the leadership of our sister republic of Chile and the Chilean people are moving forward in a historic constituent assembly, so we hope that under the leadership of brother President Gabriel Boric, the Bolivian people will put an end to the imprisonment, an open wound in our great homeland for 143 years," said Arce.

Both presidents met in Chile last March 11, the same day Boric took office. After the meeting, Arce indicated that he presented his counterpart with an agenda that included the sea issue and the use of international waters.

 However, on March 14, Boric maintained that his country's sovereignty is not negotiable, but offered to resume bilateral relations.  "Chile, of course, does not negotiate its sovereignty, as I imagine no country does," he assured then.

Yesterday, Arce maintained that the reestablishment of diplomatic relations "can only take place within the framework of the solution to the pending maritime issue", and added that Chile is aware that the Bolivian encirclement is one of its most serious international faults.

Bilateral relations have been broken since 1978, when Bolivia decided to take this step because the negotiation with Chile, which remained for history as the Abrazo de Charaña, ended in a stalemate.

Arce also vindicated the ICJ ruling of October 1, 2018, and called it a "sentence", something that contrasts with the word "report" used to refer to that verdict by former President Evo Morales, who filed the lawsuit in The Hague.

"The ICJ, in its judgment of October 1, 2018, made it clear that there is a long history of dialogues, exchanges and negotiations aimed at identifying an appropriate solution to Bolivia's Mediterranean situation, following the War of the Pacific and the 1904 Treaty, without concrete results having been achieved to date," the president assured.

Arce added that the Court's decision "far from defeatist interpretations, opens a new scenario in the bilateral dialogue, in which the cycle of confrontations has been closed and a phase of rapprochement is opened, based on the integration of twinned peoples, through dialogue, cooperation and complementarity".

At the end of the event, the pro-government senator Leonardo Loza highlighted Arce's speech and underlined the call he made to Boric to influence the issue.  "A calm speech, a speech of work, a speech of agenda, a speech of call to our brother government of Chile so that it can put its good offices to solve this historical demand of the Bolivian people", said the legislator. 

Meanwhile, Alejandro Reyes, deputy of Comunidad Ciudadana, indicated that there is improvisation in the government, given that Arce went to Chile, to Boric's inauguration, "thinking that he was going to improve our condition with respect to the issue of sovereignty in the Pacific", however, late he realized the harsh reality. "Our foreign relations are becoming more and more amateurish", he affirmed. 

In the official act, the different State institutions, ministries and social sectors made floral offerings at the foot of the monument to Eduardo Abaroa. There was no parade. 

Arce asks Boric to put an end to the cloistered status and conditions relations with Chile to the solution of the maritime issue

 The President ratified that the right to the sea is inalienable and imprescriptible. He pointed out that the Bolivian encirclement is one of Chile's most serious international faults.

President Luis Arce asked this Wednesday his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric, to put an end to the Bolivian enclaustration and ratified that diplomatic relations with that country can only be reestablished when the maritime issue is resolved.

In a 15-minute speech from the Abaroa Square in La Paz, the head of state advocated for a dialogue in "good faith" and stressed that the right to the sea is "inalienable and imprescriptible" for the country.

"We hope that, under the leadership of our brother President Gabriel Boric, an end will be put to the enclosure of the Bolivian people, an open wound in our great homeland for more than 143 years," said the highest national authority.

Likewise, he emphasized that "Chile is aware that the Bolivian confinement is one of its most serious international faults and that the immense damage it has committed is in the international conscience".

He also indicated that "the reestablishment of diplomatic relations can only be given in the framework of the solution to the pending maritime issue", considering that the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, in October 2018, "opens a phase of rapprochement based on the integration of twinned peoples, through dialogue, cooperation and complementarity".

According to Arce, Bolivia and Chile can continue their dialogue and exchange in a spirit of good neighborliness to address issues related to Bolivia's landlocked situation, a solution that both have recognized is a matter of mutual interest.

The President also highlighted national initiatives aimed at improving integration, such as the development of the port of Ilo (Peru) and the Ichilo-Mamoré waterway projects. However, he stressed that the Mediterranean condition has not only economic, but also cultural, political and social consequences.

"Bolivia and Chile have greater opportunities if they work together (...) We are sure that sooner or later the injustice will be solved", concluded the President when recalling the 143 years of the Chilean invasion.