What was expected to be a
corruption scandal began with a self-report
. The
private security company Securitas
admitted in court to having
paid millionaire bribes
to officials
between 2014 and 2018
to obtain contracts for surveillance services in different national public organizations, state companies and even government agencies of the Province of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Tucumán and CABA.
The confession was detailed in a file kept by federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado and which led to
nine detainees and more than 50 raids
throughout the country.
The investigation began in 2020 when the company decided
to denounce its own former executives
because “they abused and used the corporate structure, as well as their position in the market and the reputation of the group, with the sole purpose of obtaining a benefit for themselves and, indirectly, for the companies they represented,” they stated in the judicial presentation, as revealed by the newspaper
La Nación
.
Judicial sources cited by the same media detailed that the improper payments that Securitas accepted were from 2014 to 2018, that is,
during the governments of Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macri
, although episodes since 2012 are being investigated.
The list of organizations where the company admitted paying bribes includes the National Registry of Persons (
Renaper
), the National Agency for Controlled Materials (
Anmac
),
SENASA
,
Naval Prefecture
and the
Airport Security Police
. Also, in the state water company AYSA.
Among the cases of bribes reported, provincial agencies are mentioned, such as the energy company
ENERSA
, of
Entre Ríos
, the Police of the Province of Tucumán, and the Provincial Directorate for the Management of Private Security of Buenos Aires or the Buenos Aires Police - both cases , during the governorship of
María Eugenia Vidal
-.
Illegal payments mostly point to two issues: the first, trying to
renew, maintain or access public contracts
. The second, to
expedite procedures
, such as the case of authorizations in which the "Registries of Security Guards of the City of Buenos Aires and the Province", the Automotive Property Registry of the PBA or the Provincial of Weapons.
In the details of cases, irregular payments are also reported in links with intermediate public service companies such as Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, the
Argentine Cargo Terminal
and even the
Venezuelan oil company PDVSA
.
In another order, Securitas reported payment of
bribes to UOCRA
, the construction union, to obtain surveillance contracts in
works
of the state oil company
YPF, Conicet and the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK)
.
News in development.
D.S.