The Colombian Prosecutor's Office has decreed the precautionary seizure of 58 million euros in shares of the main subsidiary of Canal de Isabel II in Latin America, Inassa, investigated both in that country and in Spain for the alleged "looting" carried out by its directors. In addition, it has imposed sanctions on eight of these directors and former directors, some of whom are also being investigated in Operation Lezo, which is being investigated in the Spanish National Court.
Both in these judicial cases and in others in which the Madrid-based company is immersed - which was awarded the water management in Lanzarote under the presidency of Pedro San Ginés - what is being investigated are alleged frauds by charging invoices for services not provided or for works that were not actually carried out, as well as the rigging of contracts in different regions through which the company expanded.
In the new scandal that has erupted in Colombia, the Prosecutor's Office has withdrawn Canal de Isabel II's control of the company Triple A, which is in charge of maintaining public services in Barranquilla and of which it controlled 82 percent of the shares through its main subsidiary, Inassa. "Triple A was looted since 2000," said prosecutor Néstor Martínez at a press conference, according to El Confidencial. The newspaper Expansión also echoes this news, citing a statement from the Prosecutor's Office, which states that between 2000 and 2017, alleged fraudulent payments were detected through a "technical assistance contract" that would have caused a patrimonial damage to the company Triple A of close to 68 million euros, since that technical assistance was never actually "fulfilled".
"Diversion of resources to benefit third parties"
According to the Prosecutor's Office, there is evidence of "irregular diversion of resources to benefit third parties", including the companies Canal Extensia, belonging to the Canal de Isabel II group; and the Panamanian company Slasa, "which allegedly received money in transfers that arrived at a compensation account in Miami".
"This financial maneuver, apparently, guaranteed that part of the resources remained among the partners and a percentage was destined for the operational expenses of Inassa", explains the Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating different directors of the company for the crimes of "association to commit crimes for the purpose of illicit enrichment and illicit enrichment of individuals".
According to Expansión, the Prosecutor's Office has prohibited Francisco Olmos Fernández Corugedo, former manager of Triple A, and Francisco Javier Malia Baro, former general manager of Inassa, from leaving Colombia and has imposed fines on them; as well as the former managers of Triple A Luis Fernando Arboleda González, Carlos Alberto Ariza Duque and Ramón Navarro Pereira, and Luis Alberto Nicolella de Caro, former general manager of Inassa, and Germán Sarabia Huyke, manager of the same company.
It has also imposed the payment of fines on the Spaniards Carlos Roca García, current manager of Inassa; Alberto Muguiro Eulate, executive president of Inassa, and Edmundo Rodríguez Sobrino, prosecuted in Spain as former president of the same company in the so-called Lezo case and strongman of the former president of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio González, in Latin America.
In Lanzarote, the tender specifications were "altered" to benefit Canal
After the corruption scandals that have shaken Canal de Isabel II, which depends on the Community of Madrid, the intention to get rid of all the companies in which it had participation in South America was announced. It even studied the possibility of withdrawing from other areas of Spain where it provided services through subsidiaries, as is the case of Lanzarote with Canal Gestión.
It should be recalled that almost a year ago, the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands ordered the review of the award of the water cycle in Lanzarote, considering it proven that the initial specifications of the tender were "altered" to benefit Canal. That sentence was hidden for months by Pedro San Ginés, until La Voz de Lanzarote made it public. Then, at the request of the opposition, the Plenary of the Cabildo approved opening a commission of investigation into the award of that contract, which was carried out through a negotiated procedure after declaring the tender void, but that was more than four months ago and the commission is not even constituted yet.
Within the framework of the judicial cases in which Canal is immersed, both the first manager of Canal Gestión Lanzarote, Gerardo Díaz, has been arrested for alleged crimes of corruption committed in his previous destination in the company, as well as the former general director of Canal de Isabel II, who was the one who signed the contract in Lanzarote with San Ginés.