11/18/2020 2:42 PM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 11/18/2020 2:42 PM
Former mayor K of the Salta town of Aguaray Jorge Enrique Prado
was arrested in a case investigating the theft of pipes from the Northeast Argentine Gas Pipeline (NEA)
for about 3.5 million dollars, which had led to the intervention of the municipality that was in his charge.
Prado is accused of having handed over the pipes, which were in his custody, from the state to a private company from Mendoza.
Sources from the Federal Public Ministry of Salta provided the information and detailed that the arrest was ordered by
the federal judge of Orán Gustavo Montoya
, following a request from the federal prosecutor Eduardo Villalba.
Hours earlier, the Judge of Guarantees 1 of Tartagal, Nelson Aramayo, had decided not to make room for a request from the criminal prosecutor of Salvador Mazza, Armando Cazón, for the capture and arrest of the former communal chief
in another case
against him for embezzlement of funds public officials and breach of the duties of a public official.
The spokesmen detailed that the Federal Prosecutor's Office
expanded the object
of the investigation against Padro, the former Secretary of the Treasury of Aguaray, Fredy Céspedes;
and the Mendoza businessman Diego Alos.
In this case, the prosecutor was blunt with regard to the evidence gathered against the accused, among which he highlighted the statement of
a "collaborating accused
,
"
expert reports and other testimonies.
Based on these new evidence presented, Villalba ratified the accusation against Prado, Céspedes and Alos for
the crimes of aggravated robbery, fraud against the public administration and falsification of private instruments
.
He also announced that other evidentiary measures remain to be carried out,
which is why he requested the preventive detention of Prado
in order to prevent the accused from hindering the pending investigations.
Villalba added to this the fact that there are probabilities that, at the end of the process, Prado will
receive an effective prison sentence, this being another cause that led the judge to order the arrest.
The sources specified that the arrest of Prado took place last night in a building in the macro-center of the city of Salta by members
of the National Gendarmerie
.
The now former mayor of Aguaray, his former Secretary of the Treasury and four businessmen are some of
the ten accused
by three federal prosecutors who took part in the investigation for the millionaire theft of pipes from the NEA Gas Pipeline.
The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation, Juan Cabandié,
denied having
signed a resolution for the withdrawal of 24-inch pipes from the northern head of the GNEA, in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Aguaray.
Prado ceased his functions after the intervention of the Executive Department of the municipality, which was sanctioned by the Legislature on October 15, while on October 19,
Adrián Zigarán
assumed
as controller appointed by the Government of Salta
.
The provincial prosecutor charged him on November 6 for embezzlement of public funds and non-compliance with the duties of a public official, and requested his capture and arrest, which was denied today by the Judge of Guarantees of Tartagal.
This investigation by the provincial justice, in addition to the one initiated by the federal justice for the gas pipeline, began ex officio from the public statements of Zigarán referring
to the deficit and debt generated in that area by the former mayor.
To impute Prado, the prosecutor Cazón took into account media publications in which Zigarán reported that the former communal chief received
in December 2019 a healthy municipality with bank deposits in the municipality's accounts for $ 7,900,000
.
Ten months later, and after being intervened,
the deficit is 19 million pesos,
without determining the commitments that he left by issuing deferred checks that will expire in the coming months, explained Zigarán, who referred to fuel expenses and salary debts.