Judge Fatima Veloz of the Permanent Attention Office of the National District has ordered 18 months of preventive detention for seven individuals implicated in the corruption scheme named Operation Camaleon regarding capital city traffic lights and national security contracts.
Among those ordered to serve time in the Najayo Men’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Center is the former National Institute of Transit and Transportation (Intrant) director Hugo Beras, Intrant official Pedro Vinicio Padovani Báez and Jochi Gómez, said to be the man behind the recent Intrant traffic lights contract and the owner of the security company Aurix, that is linked to the Camaleón case.
The judge also imposed house arrest and a travel ban on defendant Samuel Gregorio Baquero Sepúlveda, while other defendants were ordered to appear periodically in court and pay bail.
The Public Ministry alleges that these individuals were part of an organized crime network that embezzled state funds, committed forgery, and engaged in other illegal activities.
Wilson Camacho, head of the Specialized Prosecution Office for Administrative Corruption (Pepca), asserted that the judge’s decision was justified by the severity of the crimes committed.
Camacho also revealed that evidence had been found indicating that the defendants had been surveilling members of the judicial system, a factor that influenced the judge’s decision.
The defendants’ attorneys have indicated that they will appeal the decision, arguing that the evidence against their clients is insufficient.
Somos Pueblo’s Ricardo Ripoll and Eduardo Sanchez Tolentino (El Piro) presented on their YouTube channel the letter in English from the state of Tennessee as evidence Hugo Beras was aware that Transcore Latam presented fake documentation to establish its relationship with traffic systems specialist Transcore LP of Tennessee in its bid for the capital city traffic lights contract. The warning of the fake information that substantiated the proposal was presented four days before Hugo Beras signed the contract. Ripoll remarked: “He knew everything that was going on.”
“The proposal submitted for Transcore Latam contains information regarding TransCore and other entities that was not provided by TransCore and was either falsely and fraudulently created or misappropriated from other public available sources,” states the letter that was received by Intrant and Hugo Beras four days before the signing of the contract.
Laura Acosta, defense lawyer for Hugo Beras, has argued her client can only be charged for administrative faults. The prosecution has included charges of terrorism in the accusations.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Diario Libre
Somos Pueblo
Listin Diario
14 October 2024