Between May and September 2023, a protected witness and two reserve witnesses testified to the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption of Power (Eficcop) about hitherto unknown facts of the government of Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020).
The Untouchables of Corruption: several former officials of the Vizcarra government are arrested #VideosC #UI
According to their testimonies, in Provías Descentralizado (PVD), an entity attached to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC), there was a group of officials close to Vizcarra who favored companies in bidding and contracting in exchange for illicit payments. Among them were people who worked with the former president in the Regional Government of Moquegua (2011-2014).
The statements are part of the Eficcop investigation into the Los Intocables de la Corrupción Case, an alleged criminal network that operated in PVD, in which Vizcarra would be the leader, according to the prosecutor’s thesis.
One statement, that of the reserve witness TP-2023, not only refers to this alleged criminal organization that existed in PVD.
In his testimony, dated September 14, 2023, he recounts three deliveries of money to Vizcarra in the Government Palace, when he was president. This statement is part of the judicial resolution that approved the raid and arrest of businessman Hugo Meneses and former PVD officials, an operation in the Los Intocables of Corruption Case that took place yesterday in Lima and Moquegua.
The money, according to the witness, was taken by Carlos Revilla Loayza, executive director of PVD in the Vizcarra government. Revilla was arrested yesterday.
“Revilla, at that time executive director of Provías Descentralizado, has entered the Government Palace carrying sports briefcases (two opportunities) and a tube to store plans (one opportunity) to the Government Palace. Entry was through the Peru gate and there should be no registration. All of that was the order of then-president Martín Vizcarra,” said the witness in reserve 03-2023.
According to the testimony, the first delivery took place in 2018. That time, Karem Roca, who worked in the presidential office with Vizcarra, observed that Revilla was carrying a black briefcase, from the Adidas brand, which contained “packages.” inside”.
Roca took advantage of the fact that Vizcarra went to the toilets to open the briefcase that Revilla left behind. “It had an irregular weight and out of curiosity he managed to open it, observing that it contained a large amount inside. [de] wads of national bills.”
The second delivery of money was between September and October 2019, according to the witness. Another time, Revilla entered the Palace without being searched, carrying a black briefcase. “Vizcarra asked that no record of said entry be left and that the cameras in the Government Palace be turned off.” After the appointment, Roca, the Navy aide “named Orlando Echevarría and the cleaning worker entered” the office.
Under these circumstances, Roca observed that the then president’s desk drawer “was poorly closed.” When trying to close it, he “was able to visualize the existence of bundles of money in dollars and also bundles of S/200 that were inside.” Roca tried to close it, but then Vizcarra “surprises her and says: ‘Hey, what are you doing there? What have you seen?”, to which she replied nothing and left.
The third delivery was also in 2019. Revilla visited Vizcarra again in his office, but he did not bring suitcases, but rather a tube of plans. When Roca checked the tube after the meeting, he “observed that it contained a large number of wads of national bills.”
In the judicial resolution, “Revilla is mentioned as the main concentrator of the ‘bribes’ that he received as a result of the collusive agreements and the money collected through Alcides Villafuerte on a permanent basis. [quien] “he would have delivered percentages of the respective bribe to the other members of the alleged criminal organization.”
In the case, three works tendered by PVD (in Moquegua, Ayacucho and Apurímac) are being investigated, which total more than S/273 million.
Structure of alleged criminal network
/ YESENIA
The Moqueguanos
In addition to Revilla, other former PVD officials are being investigated in the case: Alcides Villafuerte, Elizabeth Ugarte and Hugo Misad. They are part of the Eficcop organizational chart on the alleged criminal network that Vizcarra would direct. This includes the former Ministers of Transportation and Communications Edmer Trujillo and Carlos Estremadoyro (see graph).
All of them, according to the statements of an effective collaborator and witnesses, are part of Vizcarra’s close circle known as Los Moqueguanos. Except for Villafuerte, the rest worked with Vizcarra in the Regional Government of Moquegua.
According to the effective collaborator 08-2023-Eficcop, mentioned in the judicial resolution, Los Moqueguanos were placed to “control” PVD and “collect bribes from national and foreign companies and that this illicit money is distributed among said people,” including Vizcarra.
Regarding Misad, Vizcarra’s childhood friend, witness TP-03-2023 said: “This Mr. Hugo Misad, known as ‘El Turco’, I am aware of. [de] that he was a front man for Mr. Vizcarra, since through him he received the payments that were affected [efectuaban] for said work in all the places where he was appointed.”
Discharge
Vizcarra described the reported events as “bullshit.” He argued that this occurs because they perceive him as “a political rival to be feared”: “[Siento] “A true indignation at this hoax that they are expressing, even more so when the main source of all this investigation is one person: Karem Roca.”
At Exitosa he denied that he had ordered the surveillance cameras to be turned off to keep Revilla’s visits hidden, or that he had promoted fraudulent tenders. “I do not have doubts [de] that in a very short time this hoax is going to fall […]. The order that came from the presidency of the Republic is that the processes be completely transparent, fast and that they could not exceed 100% [del valor referencial de cada obra]”.
This newspaper tried to communicate with Trujillo and Estremadoyro, but was unable to locate them.
“This is the strongest case against Vizcarra”
Andy Carrión – criminal lawyer
The operation of the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption of Power is based on three specific crimes. One is that of the criminal organization that Martín Vizcarra would have directed.
The other crime is collusion, because it involves the irregular manner used by Vizcarra government officials to carry out contracts to benefit the businessmen who would have colluded to obtain those contracts. The crime of money laundering would also have been committed because witnesses point out that money was delivered to the highest official of the State, as a result of irregular negotiations in the MTC-PVD. This illicit money would have entered the financial system irregularly.
The version of the effective collaborator and the detailed documentation are the support for an initial suspicion that has served for the judge to approve the preliminary detention of these officials.
The proceedings have not included the former president and his two former ministers because, as they are senior officials, they must be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office.
Although there were investigations against Vizcarra when he was regional governor, this is the strongest case against Vizcarra. They have not only focused on the MTC-PVD, but also on holding the former president accountable as the leader of a criminal network.
What is expected is a process as long as the one that began against former president Pedro Castillo. The interesting thing is when those investigated begin to speak. The accused risk being detained for up to 36 months. This legal situation of the detainees could generate other witnesses who help prove the former president’s responsibility in this criminal network.
Several former officials of the Vizcarra government are arrested
Early yesterday morning, the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption of Power (Eficcop), together with the group of police officers that supports it, preliminarily detained Carlos Revilla Loayza for ten days, who was executive director of Provías Descentralizado (PVD). ) during the government of Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020). The measure was approved by Judge Jorge Chávez Tamariz.
Revilla is investigated for the Untouchables of Corruption Case, as an alleged criminal organization that operated in PVD during the Vizcarra administration has been called. This network is related to alleged fraudulent tenders in the entity, which is attached to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC).
According to the tax thesis, Vizcarra would head the alleged criminal organization [ver páginas 4 y 5].
In addition to Revilla, who until yesterday was serving as an advisor to the executive management of Pro Inversión, Eficcop and the police raided several properties and detained other former officials of the Vizcarra government who are being investigated in the case.
Another detainee is Alcides Villafuerte Vizcarra, Works manager during Revilla’s management at PVD. Due to his work in this entity, Villafuerte has also been involved in the Puente Tarata Case, the first major corruption scandal of the Pedro Castillo government.
There is also an arrest warrant against Elizabeth Ugarte Manrique, coordinator of Supply and Asset Control of PVD in the Revilla administration. However, she was not at her home when the operation was carried out. According to El Comercio sources, she is in Thailand.
The other two detained by court order are Juan José Enciso Torres, a member of two PVD tender selection committees, and businessman Hugo Meneses Cornejo, who was also involved in the Puente Tarata Case.
In addition to them, Hugo Misad Trabucco, a former PVD official and childhood friend of Martín Vizcarra, was arrested. In his case there was no arrest warrant (only a search warrant), but he was detained because a weapon that was not registered was found in his home.
The other investigations against the former president
In addition to being involved in the Untouchables Case of Corruption, Martín Vizcarra is being prosecuted for the alleged bribes he received during his administration as governor of Moquegua, a case that was revealed by this newspaper. He is also being investigated for the ‘Vacunagate’ Case.
August 2019
The El Comercio Investigation Unit began the investigation into Martín Vizcarra’s management as governor of Moquegua. The first findings were an invoice for the rental of a small plane by the company Obrainsa, which days before had won, through a consortium, the bid to build the irrigation system for the Lomas de Ilo project. The plane transported a delegation of senior officials from Bolivia to that region of southern Peru.
October 2019
A team from El Comercio traveled to Moquegua to investigate irregularities in the awarding of the Lomas de Ilo project, in addition to the construction of the regional hospital.
December 2019
This newspaper published the report “Martín Vizcarra: they reveal irregular payments of more than S/41 million in his management as GORE of Moquegua.” This note evidenced an irregular payment that was made to the Moquegua Hospital Consortium, made up of the companies Incot and ICCGSA, on December 31, 2014, the last day of Vizcarra’s management in Moquegua.
October 2020
Three effective collaborators recounted the connection between then-president Martín Vizcarra and the consortium in charge of the construction of the Moquegua Regional Hospital, for which they paid, according to their testimony, a bribe of S/1,300,000.
November 2020
For this case, Congress removed Vizcarra as president. The prosecutor’s office is investigating him for this fact.
February 2021
A journalistic investigation revealed that Martín Vizcarra and his wife, Maribel Díaz, were secretly vaccinated against COVID-19. This case was called ‘Vacunagate’. He is investigated for this scandal.