The Peruvian Public Ministry reported this Friday the completion of a raid on the offices of the Government Palace in Lima, as part of an investigation of alleged corruption in contracts of the state oil company Petroperúand for which there is already a preliminary investigation against President Pedro Castillo.
In a message on the social network Twitter, the entity said that the “Prosecutor’s Office carries out the raid and house search for seizure purposes in the Government Palace and 14 other buildings linked to the investigation for the alleged direction in the acquisition of Biodiesel B100 -a charge of Petroperú – in favor of the company HPO SA”.
The operation included the simultaneous search of the homes of Petroperú officials, who according to the Prosecutor’s Office “would have colluded and/or unduly interested in favoring the (Peruvian) company Heaven Petroleum Operators SA with the award of the process of acquisition of Biodiesel B100”.
The fiscal hypothesis maintains that “this fact would have been coordinated through a series of irregularities, whose deployment would be due to alleged collusive agreements that would have been conceived on October 18, 2021 in the Presidential Office.”
The presence of police and prosecutors in the presidential headquarters of Peru began at dawn on Friday and lasted almost until noon.
absolute immunity
At the beginning of January, the Public Ministry announced the opening of a preliminary investigation for this case against President Pedro Castillo, for having allegedly intervened in a process for the acquisition of Biodiesel B100 in the local market for the period January-April 2022, ” in order for the company Heaven Petroleum Operator, led by businessman Samir Abudayeh, to win a contract for the sum of USD 74 million”.
However, he clarified then that the proceedings were suspended until Castillo completes his five-year term, in 2026, since the president has “absolute immunity that transcends the criminal procedural sphere” in
Peru.
The Petroperú officials whose homes were raided this Friday were Hugo Chávez Arévalo (general manager of Petroperú), Muslaim Abusada Sumar, Gunther Documet Celis, Roger Liy Lion and Gregorio Saenz Moya.
The investigated businessmen are Karelim López Arredondo, Samir Abudayeh Giha and Carlos Siles Chehade. López Arredondo also appears in another investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office that also involves Castillo, for allegedly having “intervened -improperly and indirectly-” in a public bidding process for the construction of a vehicular bridge over the Huallaga River, in the San Martín region. , to the north of
Peru.
AFP
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