A $71.186 million contract awarded to AlDesarrollo by the Victims Unit just five days before new election laws took effect is raising serious questions about potential impropriety. It’s a deal that smells less like public service and more like a last-minute scramble, and it’s drawing scrutiny from the highest levels of the Colombian government.
Snail Radio reported that directors of AlDesarrollo are currently under investigation by prosecutors for alleged contract violations, including failing to meet legal requirements and showing undue influence in securing and executing contracts.
Two of these investigations are being handled by the Bogotá Sectional Directorate, with the third taking place within the Specialized Directorate against Corruption. Authorities report that all three investigations are actively progressing with advanced judicial police activity.
Adding fuel to the fire, Andrés Idárraga, Secretary of Transparency of the Presidency, has formally requested the Attorney General’s Office to investigate AlDesarrollo and two other entities for allegedly securing over $1.3 billion in public contracts between 2018 and 2025.
Idárraga’s complaint alleges a potential conspiracy to commit crimes, suggesting a network of more than twelve individuals strategically positioned within these organizations to “falsify the market and alter the probabilities of the competitive system” during public procurement processes.
Despite these findings – detailed in a 52-page report – and the ongoing Prosecutor’s Office investigations, the Victims Unit awarded AlDesarrollo, legally represented by Ómar Enrique Flórez Escorcia, the substantial $71.186 million contract two weeks ago. The project’s ambitious goal: to acquire, transport, and supply food and non-food products to vulnerable populations affected by the internal armed conflict across the entire country, including remote and ethnic territories.
Questions Surround the Contract
The agreement lacks specifics on how deliveries will be made within 24 hours to isolated areas, relying instead on a vague promise of subcontracting.
Ronald Javier Becerra, a deputy director, initially justified the urgency by citing the need to protect fundamental rights, but the Unit later admitted in writing that “this is not an emergency,” directly contradicting the legal basis used to bypass the standard bidding process.
AlDesarrollo presents itself on its website as a science and innovation corporation, but a review of its Chamber of Commerce registration reveals a surprisingly broad range of business activities, including institutional advertising, oil extraction, and even nuclear energy services.
This wide-ranging corporate scope is particularly relevant given Secretary Idárraga’s allegations that AlDesarrollo, RedSUMMA, and Kluster Latam operate as a single entity. He claims a group of 17 individuals have allegedly simulated competition in at least 20 contractual processes, masking their coordination behind the facade of independent companies.
AlDesarrollo has remained silent despite repeated attempts by the media to obtain a response.
