The Mexican Army defends its concession of contracts to companies, after the publication this week by this newspaper of two pieces of information in which it is ensured that the armed institution diverted millions of dollars to shell companies between 2013 and 2018.
In a clarifying letter sent by the Ministry of Defense (Sedena) to this newspaper after the publication of the information, similar to a document that was delivered to the media this Thursday, the Army assures: “During the years 2013 to 2018, the companies They were not in the registry of suppliers sanctioned for hiring, published in the Ministry of Public Function, so at the time they were duly constituted and without any impediment to carry out the hiring and provide their services to their satisfaction in terms of public works, acquisitions, leases and services ”.
Beyond the fact that the information emphasizes at all times that the companies were declared as ghosts by the Tax Administration Service (SAT) after being hired, this does not necessarily mean that these companies have not been ghosts before. The SAT carries out a procedure that can last months or years in order to verify that companies carry out simulated or fictitious operations. However, once these companies are designated as ghosts - as was finally the case with the companies hired by SEDENA - their issued tax receipts no longer have a tax effect, as stated in article 69-B of the Federal Tax Code.
The institution maintains that “from 2013 to 2018, 31 audits were carried out by the ASF on different procurement procedures of this Secretary of State, an oversight body that endorsed the actions of this agency, verifying the exercise of resources; It should be noted that another 14 audits are currently in process by said agency, ”the Army assures in the letter, who was searched on several occasions before the information was published and chose not to comment.
The fact that the Superior Audit of the Federation (ASF) has audited different procurement procedures of SEDENA does not mean that the supervisory body refutes what is stated in the information. The ASF had already detected anomalies in SEDENA's hiring. One of those observations was due to the purchase of steel, as documented by EL PAÍS last July. In 2015, the ASF detected that the company DRM Aceros Internacional - which had been a supplier to SEDENA since 2013 - was conspiring with other companies to increase the cost of the goods it sold to the Directorate of Military Industry. After the observation of the ASF and the work of the SFP, the company was sanctioned. The company in question is one of the 250 shell companies mentioned in the information.
At the same time, the Army defends "that in all cases, the works and services contracted in the period referred to have been completed, delivered to satisfaction and, where appropriate, are in operation." The institution's statement contrasts with the fact that the breakdown of the 11,175 digital receipts mentioned in the published information has not been made public or delivered. The same SAT authorities have pointed out that the simulated operations issued by shell companies are difficult to verify.
In the letter, and in a document similar to the one referred to by the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during his morning conference, he assures that “in case of anomalies, they would be detected by the competent supervisory bodies; however, to date there is no set of observations for breaches of this nature ”. In any case, it does not refer to whether an investigation will be initiated to determine whether each of the goods and services that justified the issuance of the vouchers were carried out in their entirety.
Finally, the Army affirms that “six public servants who work in this agency have been sanctioned, and that they have incurred in administrative offenses, which shows the application of zero tolerance to corruption in the exercise of public service ”. However, the report mentions that four soldiers have been sanctioned, although none of them was a high-ranking official.