Ecopetrol cancels contracts with a judge in the Reficar case – Investigative Unit

Ecopetrol has just made a substantive decision regarding the contracts with Dispetrocom Ltda.

After EL TIEMPO revealed that said company has ties with Betulia Orduña Holguín, the 31st criminal judge who is handling the Reficar case, the oil company canceled the contracts with that firm.

(We invite you to read: Reficar case trial falters due to judge’s nexus with Ecopetrol)

“Ecopetrol informs that, once the verification of the information disclosed about the company Dispetrocom Ltda, of which a judge of the Republic was the legal representative, the Company terminated the purchase orders in force with said firm for the supply of fuels in some regions of the country, “says an official statement sent to EL TIEMPO.

(You may be interested: ‘Ecopetrol should have known that Reficar judge was its contractor’)
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And it adds that, in light of the provisions of Law 270 of 1996 (Statutory Law of the Administration of Justice, numeral 3 of article 151), and in consideration of the fact that this person would have been the legal representative of the company Dispetrocom Ltda. While exercising functions as a judge of the Republic, the competent authorities will have to rule on the configuration of an incompatibility in the exercise of their functions within the judicial branch.

According to Ecopetro, when signing the Commitment to Integrity, a document required to contract with Ecopetrol, at no time did the judicial branch official declare a possible conflict of interest, nor did she reveal her status as Judge of the Republic, nor did she report an incompatibility or impediment constitutional or legal order to act as legal representative of Dispetrocom Ltda.

The state entity says that no employee of said society reported it either.

“This omission in the sworn statement on compliance and transparency was the reason for the early termination of the contracts”, says the company.

(Also: This is the evidence of the cost overruns of $ 12 billion in Reficar)

It also says that Ecopetrol made these facts known to the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation and the Superior Council of the Judiciary so that they carry out rigorous investigations in accordance with their powers.

The complaint

EL TIEMPO established that the judge appears in documents of Dispetrocom Ltda. It is a company, created in October 1993, for the sale of lubricants, fuels, oil and derivatives, as recorded in public deed.

Dispetrocom appears contracted with Ecopetrol for “the supply of fuel for mobile points.”

(Also: ‘Reficar’s main contractor defaulted without anyone stopping him’)

“How can you have a judge who is a contractor for your counterpart? We are aware of at least 5 contracts, for 523 million pesos,” said one of the attorneys for an executive linked to the case.

Judgment, braking

As this newspaper anticipated, the attorneys for the defendants have already recused the official.

The immediate effect is that the preparatory trial hearings, scheduled for November 4, may be postponed.

(It may interest you: The country paid $ 13.9 million for a ship that has not served)

For more than a year, heavyweights in the sector have been charged, including Reyes Reinoso, the former president of the refinery; Orlando Cabrales, former legal representative; Pedro Rosales, a former member of its board, and Felipe Laverde, its legal officer. Also, Philip Asherman and Masoud Deidehban, representatives of CB&I, the contractor company, and even the tax auditor, Carlos Lloreda.

Although those involved insist on their full innocence, for the Prosecutor’s Office it is clear that “they modified clauses and agreements, causing an additional cost that doubled the initial budget of the refinery from US $ 3,700 to US $ 8,000 million, and delayed the project for three more years.”

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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