A 2008 resolution allegedly authorized the direct purchases made by the management at the Metropolitan Bus Services Office (Omsa). Director Manuel Rivas and other Omsa directors are under arrest after the murder of lawyer Yuniol Ramírez lead to the widespread press coverage of alleged widespread corruption at the bus company.
A recent Chamber of Accounts audit showed that around RD$2 billion was contracted outside of usual Procurement Department procedures, buses were repaired time and time again running up bills into millions, and several payments for services and goods went to companies owned by persons related to Omsa directors.
The Controller’s Office has defended the direct purchases indicating they were protected by Resolution 15-08 issued in 2008 and confirmed in 2016 by the Órgano Rector de las Compras Públicas.
The Controller’s Office, in a press release, says that the Procurement Department (Dirección General de Contrataciones Públicas) has not notified that Resolution 15-08 has been repealed. The Controller’s Office says that the resolution was not issued for exclusive use by the OMSA, but that it covers all institutions under the scope of National System for Internal Controls and the Controller General of the Republic Law 10-07, dating to January 2007.
The Controller General Office criticized that the Chamber of Accounts in its audit of Omsa operations from 2012 to 2017 did not note the purchases were authorized by Resolution 15-08. The Controller General of the Republic (CGR) says that after objectively analyzing the results of the special report made by the Chamber of Accounts of the Dominican Republic (CCRD) to the Metropolitan Bus Services Office (OMSA), it concludes that the auditors of the Chamber of Accounts ignored the validity of Resolution 15-08 issued by the Dirección General de Contrataciones Públicas, the procurement office.
Meanwhile, Yokasta Guzmán, the Procurement Office director acknowledged the management at Omsa acted protected by Resolution 15-08, not the Procurement Law 340-06. She made the observation when questioned about the serious irregularities the audit performed on the Omsa operations from 22 August 2012 to 17 October 2017 involving billions of pesos and implicating wrongdoing of senior officials of that entity, as well as suppliers and technicians of the Internal Audit Unit of the Controller General’s Office. Nevertheless, Guzman said that the same Resolution 15-08 orders that the procurement law be observed, and thus it cannot be a shield for irregularities.
Local news commentators observed that as the Controller General Office has said Resolution 15-08 is still in effect, thus weakening controls in place to curtail corruption all throughout government, not just at the Omsa now under scrutiny after the murder of Yuniol Ramirez.
On 19 June 2017 the National Council of Lawyers (CONA) presided over by Yuniol Ramírez, had asked for information via the Department of Free Access to Information at OMSA, about the five companies benefited by more than 800 repair contracts by OMSA management. The companies were Grupo Martisdom, Tech Solution, Venditio Line; Josafap Inversiones and Soluciones Thiaubaa.
In the lawsuit brought by Ramirez he claims that according to the purchases orders in 2015 and 2016, OMSA issued 348 authorizations to Josafap for the vehicle repairs spare parts. Similarly, Thiaubaa received 21 authorizations for repairs, while Venditio Line,Tech Solution and Martisdom were beneficiaries of 23, 88 and 11 maintenance contracts, respectively. The last two are owned by businessman Eddy Santana Zorrilla, who admitted having handed over a million pesos to Yuniol Ramírez to withdraw the case. According to the audit results, a total of RD$145,564,199 was paid by OMSA to companies owned by Eddy Santana Zorrilla.
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18 April 2018
