“The request for information from Recinos, Alabí and Sánchez-Brunete to Spain is the first novelty of the tax investigation,” the publication says. Recently, a US State Department report shows that there have been signs of corruption in the Bukele government, especially in pandemic acquisitions.
Research into the government’s management of public resources during the pandemic continues. The focus is now on Presidential Commissioner Carolina Recinos and Health Minister Francisco Alabí. Proof is that the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) has requested information from the Spanish Ministry of Justice on suspicion of “illegal negotiations in the acquisitions made in 2020”, according to Factum Magazine.
The digital newspaper assures in its publication that the Prosecutor’s Office requested information from the Spanish businessman Francisco Javier Sánchez-Brunete Herraiz, who is the sole director of Javi Performance Parts SL, a spare parts sales company that sold to the Ministry of Health (Minsal) medical supplies for 12 million dollars.
“The request for information from Recinos, Alabí and Sánchez-Brunete to Spain is the first novelty of the tax investigation for more than $ 155 million in public procurement of medical supplies and food during the pandemic. The international assistance process puts Commissioner Recinos on the scene of the investigation, which draws the strings of several decisions of the Executive and which led the baton of the extended health cabinet at the beginning of the emergency. She defended the employment, despite 17 irregularities that the Salvadoran press revealed “, says Factúm.
SEE: Spanish company that sold medical supplies to the Government of El Salvador was not responsible for 7 years
What is known so far?
Former sister-in-law of the presidential commissioner
The prosecutor’s office is investigating the purchase of food services from the former sister-in-law of Presidential Commissioner Recinos, Blanca Judith Meléndez Portillo, for an amount of $ 549,359.41. Meléndez Portillo is the former partner of Herberth Orlando Recinos, the official’s brother, as well as the finance and cooperation manager Bandesal.
In July 2020, Meléndez Portillo was known to have emerged as a contractor for the Ministry of Security and Justice, according to the second report on the management and execution of emergency health care expenditure.
The Ministry of Security awarded him the contract entitled “Procurement of food for staff who will support the Food Emergency Plan” in the national emergency declared by the COVID-19 pandemic for a total of $ 549,359.41, according to El Diario de Hoy.
Sánchez-Brunete
As it was recorded a publication in El Diario de HoyOn April 13 last year, the Government of El Salvador concluded a contract by which it agreed to buy 1,500,000 masks, 150,000 non-sterile medical gabachones and 300,000 non-sterile masks from this small Spanish company. All for $ 5,085,000. However, the purchases amount to USD 11,927,050, according to the documentation delivered to the Legislature.
Javi Performance Parts SL building based in Getafe, Spain. Its owner did not want to talk about the millionaire negotiation with the Salvadoran government. Photo: EDH / Archive
“Purchase order 148/2020 from Institutional Procurement and Contracting Unit of the Ministry of Health establishes the purchase of 1,500,000 KN95 masks at a cost of USD 2.04 each; 150,000 non-sterile medical gabachons priced at $ 8.00 each; and 300,000 acrylic masks at $ 2.75 each. Which adds up to $ 5,085,000 in the end. The document states that the money would come from the “Fopromid Donation Funds”. On behalf of the government, the Minister of Health, Francisco José Alabí, and Javier Sánchez Brunete Herraiz, signed as administrator of Javi Performance Parts SL “, said EDH in a July 2020 publication.
You may read: The Ministry of Security awarded the former presidential commissioner’s sister-in-law a $ 550,000 food contract
Factum ensures that, according to the additional act no. 0000098, the company was exempted from the presentation of insurance and bonds, despite the fact that it is a requirement of suppliers as a guarantee.
“As it is a foreign supplier, the advance payment would be made and in an ‘exceptional’ way it will not be necessary to present a guarantee of good investment in advance”, it is stated in the document that the Magazine has and which is signed by Alabí .
This would have been paid for with donations from the Fund for Civil Protection, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (FOPROMID), which made it possible to circumvent the processes established in LACAP. The Citizens’ Oversight Committee revealed that this procedure was used by the government to manage $ 607.1 million approved by Parliament without subjecting control to public funds.
In addition: Health bought $ 11,927,050 in sanitary ware from a company that sells car parts in Spain
But that’s not all, “Francisco Javier Sánchez-Brunete Herraiz, according to the Spanish Mercantile Registry, continued to move into the business world after selling supplies to the Salvadoran government. On August 19, 2020, he was appointed joint administrator of PROMAUTO 2020 SL, a company for the maintenance, sale and repair of motor vehicles and supplier of spare parts. Days later, on September 9, 2020, the company JSB Medical Supplier 2020 SL registered, for trade, exports and imports of electronic devices, sanitary products, office furniture, among others. In the same month, the company Madrid Trading Comercio 2020 SL also registered to do business with medical consumables and other products “, describes Factum.
Francisco Alabí, the landmark for health during the pandemic
The health minister allegedly bought $ 225,000 in medical supplies from his family’s company run by Celina Quiñónez, who is Alabí’s father-in-law and the mother of his first cousins José Ángel, Gonzalo and Violeta Montoya Quiñónez.
In addition, Minsal refused CICIES the document certifying the purchase of rubber boots for the aforementioned amount from Autodo.
The purchase consisted of 26,000 pairs of branded rubber boots “Tornado” at a unit price of 7.50 USD each pair without VAT, as detailed in the purchase order that appears in the electronic purchasing system of the state called Compraal.
In an investigation of Cat closed It is shown that Minister Alabí signed the purchase order 133/2020 and also contains the signature of Celina Quiñónez, in her capacity as a representative of the company Autodo SA de CV, but the detail is that Mrs. Quiñónez is the wife of the minister’s uncle.
According to the journalistic investigation, Minister Alabí’s political aunt is the president and legal representative of Autodo, a company that sells spare parts for vehicles. While her children and Alabí’s cousins, all nicknamed Montoya Quiñónez, appear as members of the company’s board of directors, according to the National Registry Center.
Recommendations: The Minister of Health bought $ 225,000 in medical supplies from his family’s company
In short, Minister Alabí bought from state funds products for use by the Ministry of Health, which presides over a company belonging to his family.
In addition, a report by the Court of Auditors reveals that Minsal paid the rent for a house to use as an isolation center, the property is owned by Ángel Montoya, the cousin of the health minister and as if that was not enough, it was never used. for the stated purpose, despite the fact that the Government paid $ 12,000 for the lease.
This was acknowledged by Alabí himself in the Special Committee of the Assembly: “Indeed, Ángel Montoya has a family relationship with me.”
These are some of the main findings of corruption that are in the view of the authorities and in which government officials are involved.
Shopping during the pandemic, in the US sights
A report from the United States Department of State reports how there were signs of corruption in the Nayib Bukele government during 2020, especially in the acquisitions aimed at mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, despite the fact that the Salvadoran legal framework punishes the misuse of public resources, “corruption and impunity remain endemic.”
In particular, the State Department accounts for several journalistic reports linking the Nayib Bukele government to irregularities and alleged acts of corruption in the purchase of medical and basic goods to participate in the COVID-19 pandemic, the product of the economic and social crisis of many closures industries.
“In June, July and August (2020), the local press reported on irregular purchases of food, personal protective equipment and other government supplies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.