Before being murdered by Romina Camejo (26), Gonzalo Aguiar (46) was already being investigated for an
alleged scam
linked to the Boreal medicinal hemp processing plant.
The company located in the Uruguayan department of Salto had been inaugurated by President Luis Lacalle Pou in 2020. It was sponsored as
“the largest medicinal cannabis drying plant in Latin America”
, but in 2023 it stopped operating and fired all its workers. without great explanations.
The two investors in the project were a Canadian businessman and a lawyer who had put up $27 million.
After the plant closed, they sued Aguiar for fraud.
Now, the First Round Competition Court of Montevideo
ordered the “en bloc sale”
of the establishment and there will be an opening of offers on May 24.
“The appraisal value of the machinery, facilities and merchandise that make up the establishment of Ignapin SA in Liquidation, plus the properties, according to the accompanying appraisal, amounts to
42,796,776.75
indexed units (UI).
For purely illustrative purposes (the tender is in UI), the appraisal shows the equivalent in US dollars of liquidation value in parts, as of November 3, 2023:
US$ 6,252,773.34
,” the document reveals. of conditions for sale, which is accompanied by a complete inventory of the company's assets.
He also explains that the company that is offered as a block is made up of registered properties 4,583 and 7,063 - which add up to a total of
94 hectares
of land and
5,000 m²
of buildings between the industrial plant and secondary constructions - and include all the machinery. and facilities, as well as merchandise in stock.
He adds that the properties
are not encumbered with a mortgage
, nor is there a registered pledge on the machinery, nor on the merchandise in stock.
It is detailed regarding the price of the offer that it
may not be less than 50%
of the total value of the appraisal at the liquidation value of the company.
Bidders may submit an offer to pay the
cash
price and an offer to pay
a higher price in installments (installments)
.
If an offer is made to pay the price in installments, the offeror must indicate the guarantees for payment of the balance of the price.
The document also highlights the minimum requirements for the acceptance of applicants, who can make offers until 4 p.m. on May 23, 2024.
Gonzalo Aguiar cuts ribbons with the President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou during the inauguration of a plant of the Canadian company Boreal for the production of medicinal cannabis.
Photo Pharmabiz.net
First of all, emphasis is placed on the
financial situation of the offeror
: the financial situation and solvency of the applicant must be proven to continue the business line and fulfill the offer or, in the case of a company without previous activity, of its administrators or representatives, and main partners or shareholders.
Added to this requirement are: commercial and professional background, capacity for business continuity and compliance with the offer, compliance with labor and tax regulations, domicile in Montevideo.
Emphasis is also placed on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The latter indicates that, in the case of companies, bidders must “include information related to their corporate structure for the purposes of
adequate identification
and
knowledge of the final beneficiary
, as well as the origin of the funds that they propose to allocate to the execution of the project. within the framework of current regulations on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.”
Regarding the guarantee of the maintenance of the offer, the specifications ensure that whoever applies must prove
US$90,000
.
This guarantee will be able to be constituted by deposit or transfer to the account opened in the Bank of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay "at the order of the Competition Judge and under the heading of the proceedings, or by means of a bank guarantee or insurance constituted before a banking entity or insurance company duly authorized to act in the market.”
On May 24, at 3 p.m., at 1132 San José Street in Montevideo,
the opening of offers will take place
.
These will be opened, in the presence of the judge, the Trustee and auxiliaries who are deemed relevant.
Those who have submitted offers to the tender in the previous period may attend the hearing.
The Boreal company, at its opening ceremony in the presence of Lacalle Pou.
Regarding the payment of the offered price, the document explains that, in the event that the offer is in cash, payment must be made by deposit or transfer to the account opened by court order in the bankruptcy proceedings.
“The accreditation must be credited to the account within a period of
45 calendar days
from the day following the date on which the award decree is signed or, within the same period, the delivery to the Receivership of a bill of exchange for the amount in national currency or in dollars that is equivalent to the amount in UI offered, at its value at that moment,” he adds.
The deed process must be carried out within a
maximum period of six months
from the award.
Failure to grant the deed of sale of the industrial establishment and the properties included in the tender
will be sanctioned with a fine
equal to the guarantee of maintenance of the offer previously made, in addition to any damages that may be claimed by the Receivership.
“If the granting of the deed of sale by the industrial establishment or the respective deeds of sale for the properties included in this tender fail, for reasons attributable to the successful bidder, the Judge
may award the tender to the next best bidder
selected from among the remaining applicants,” the document explains.
Regarding the delivery of the goods once the payments and the deed have been made, it is specified that an inventory will be carried out in the industrial establishment with the presence of the purchaser: “In the event that the non-existence of one or some goods included in the inventory,
the value of the missing goods will be reduced from the price paid by the purchaser
.”
The crime of Gonzalo Aguiar
The crime occurred in the early hours of Monday, February 26.
Camejo acknowledged that he was the one who shot Aguiar.
The woman told her lawyer, Camilo Silvera, that before shooting the businessman she had received a threat over the phone: "I'm going to cut you into little pieces."
Gonzalo Aguiar
In addition, he added that he arrived at the house where his client was, along with a man and the baby, "completely shaken."
This is always according to the story that Camejo gave to his legal representative, that he will seek to prove that the shots that Aguiar received and that caused his death were in self-defense.
Silvera assures that the woman told her that her ex-partner arrived at the place upset, where they argued and the well-known outcome took place.
She added that her client was "scared" because her ex-partner was someone "violent" who "was always armed."
Aguiar's deceptions
The Money Laundering Prosecutor's Office is carrying out the investigation into the origin of all of Gonzalo Aguiar's assets after his arrival in Uruguay in 2020, with the purpose of finding out if he laundered money through these purchases.
Aguiar received the investment from Canadian shareholders and made a disbursement of 27 million dollars in the department of Salto, in Uruguay, to set up a medicinal hemp processing plant.
It turned out that only 8 million were allocated to the project.
Romina Camejo, the woman accused of the crime of businessman Gonzalo Aguiar, in Punta del Este.
Instagram photo
There is a complaint filed before the Justice in which it is stated that although a part of the money was used to direct the project, several million were used to "buy sumptuous goods in his name, give gifts to relatives of his romantic ties, travel lavishly around the world and countless other million-dollar personal expenses.”
The complainant points out that there are certain assets obtained by Aguiar that would have been purchased with this money: “La Maison” in Punta del Este, two pieces of land in the same resort, a house in Prado and another in Ciudad de la Costa, a yacht , a Ferrari 458 Spider car, a BMW M3, a Volkswagen Tiguan truck, two jet skis and two quadricycles.
It is no small fact that the complaint also points out the frequency of Aguiar making ostentatious trips.
MG