According to sources from El Comercio, the voluntary surrender of Vásquez Castillo had been negotiated by Eficcop for a few months and was finalized almost two years after he went underground.
(Photo: Julio Reaño | GEC)
Fray Vásquez Castillo is subject to a 24-month preventive detention order, which was ratified in the second instance.
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The Public Ministry accuses the “great nephew” of the alleged crimes of aggravated collusion, influence peddling (as an alternative criminal offense) and criminal organization to the detriment of the State.
According to the fiscal thesis, Fray Vásquez Castillo and his cousin Gian Marco Castillo Gómez (another nephew of Castillo Terrones) formed the so-called “operational arm” of the alleged criminal network that his uncle would have headed from the top of the Government Palace. Both were “middle managers” of the organization, whose objective was to obtain irregular profits or benefits.
For example, the two nephews of the former president, according to the testimony of businesswoman Karelim López Arredondo, recruited Luis Pasapera Adrianzén “to be the intermediary” with the representatives of the Puente Tarata III Consortium, in order to benefit this group in the public tender N .º 01- 2021-MTC/12, which was in charge of Provías Descentralizado.
Provías Descentralizado is attached to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the portfolio was managed by Juan Silva, who is still a fugitive from justice.
The Puente Tarata III Consortium obtained the aforementioned work valued at S/232.5 million.
On Saturday, Pedro Castillo Terrones urged “those who are in hiding to face the investigations of the Public Ministry without fear, because the truth will set us free.” “Lies and injustices have short legs, it is time to stand up and show that we have not committed crimes,” he added on X (formerly Twitter).
The link with Villaverde
The effective collaborator N°CE-01-2022 also points to Fray Vásquez Castillo and highlights the link he had with the businessman Zamir Villaverde, who is also included in the aforementioned investigation.
“I want to point out that regarding Marco Antonio Zamir Villaverde García, said person was recruiting businessmen to offer them works in the MTC, Provías Descentralizado and Provías Nacional, in exchange for sums of money. Likewise, together with Fray Vásquez, they were calling on people he trusted or allies of him, to occupy important positions in the MTC, in order to direct the tenders,” he indicated in his statement of April 6, 2022.
(Photo: GEC Archive)
The Public Ministry emphasizes, in its investigation, that “the acts of coordination between Vásquez Castillo, Castillo Gómez and the other investigated do not involve simple speculation,” but rather “are duly accredited” in the various records of visits to the Government Palace.
In that sense, he emphasizes that Villaverde’s income to meet with Castillo Terrones’ nephews was referred to the vice secretary of the Presidential Office “so as not to leave any type of trace” of these appointments.
Likewise, the visits made by the businessman to the Government Palace coincided in time – according to the tax investigation – “with the presence” of his “nephews” in the place.
This “leads to conclude the veracity of the statement of the effective collaborator and of López Arredondo who indicates that Villaverde’s visit was made with the indication to the secretariat of the presidential office,” highlights the resolution of the Second Appeals Chamber of the Superior Court. of Justice of Lima, which in April 2022 confirmed the 24-month preventive detention for Vásquez Castillo.
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The tax thesis indicates that Vásquez Castillo and Castillo Gómez would have used the cars with license plates BWO-587, F6D-378, M5G-593, F5O-366, owned by the company Mazavig SAC, whose general manager was Villaverde.
At that time, the Second Appeals Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima to justify the ratification of the preventive detention against Vásquez Castillo, argued that he “would try to hide evidence, as well as influence his co-defendants and witnesses.” of this case, in order to reduce their responsibility for the alleged acts.”
The referee recalled that the “great nephew” tried to hinder the action of justice, when he presented “presumably false” COVID-19 ruling out evidence to both the Public Ministry and Congress, with the aim of frustrating the proceedings to which he was summoned to testify. and try to justify their absences from them.
The same folder of the investigation of the Tarata Bridge tender includes the process of acquiring biodiesel by Petroperú in favor of the company Heaven Petroleum Operators SA, represented by businessman Samir Abudayeh.
(Photo: El Comercio)
Fray Vásquez Castillo also faces a second investigation for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, collusion and influence peddling for the “Shadow Cabinet” Case.
The Public Ministry indicated that the “great nephew” was part of what it called the “family arm” and classified him as a “member and coordinator” of the network. In this investigation he only has a restricted appearance mandate.
This, because “he would have coordinated illicit influences in the appointment of senior public officials in public institutions where the largest public budget is managed, and then gave way to coordinating collusive actions in public contracts that the alleged criminal organization illegitimately manages.”
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Police protection
In March 2023, Jorge Hernández Fernández, known as “El Español”, provided a statement to the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption of Power (Eficcop) as an aspiring effective collaborator. In this, he said that retired PNP generals Luis Vera Llerena and Raúl Alfaro Alvarado, when they were directors of the National Police, knew where Fray Vásquez Castillo was hiding.
Hernández – investigated for allegedly being part of Catillo Terrones’ criminal network – also assured, in an interview with “Día D”, that his “great nephew” was hiding in his house in La Molina for “quite a while”.
He also said that “practically two people […] “The police” knew that he was hiding Vásquez, although he did not specify who they were.
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Iván Ramírez, Fray Vásquez Castillo’s lawyer, said that his surrender to the National Police and Eficcop has been “a personal decision” of his client. He added that he had recommended that he not do so, because, in his opinion, justice is “politicized.”
In dialogue with RPP Noticias, Ramírez said that, last November, before the senior prosecutor Marita Barreto was removed from the coordination of Eficcop by the then prosecutor of the Nation, Patricia Benavides, Pedro Castillo’s nephew had already received a proposal from PNP Colonel Harvey Colchado to stand upright.
“I told him not to give himself up, not to submit to collaboration,” he said.
He also said that an eventual effective collaboration was not going to benefit his still sponsored, because the investigations in which he is involved are advanced.
However, former anti-corruption attorney Antonio Maldonado explained that Vásquez Castillo only has two paths left: either he shares the fate of former president Castillo Terrones or he decides to collaborate now, when he still has elements to provide. He added that the “great nephew” could specify whether the bribes paid for the tender for the Tarata III Bridge and other works reached the hands of his uncle.
In communication with El Comercio, Maldonado said that his prolonged escape and the difficulty in finding him evidence that there was “an articulation and even a plot from within the State to protect him.” He added Vásquez Castillo himself should confirm if he received help from senior officials of the National Police during the Castilian government.