In El Salvador, Attorney General orders arrest of 7 former government officials from Franciso Flores Administration
Attorney General's Office orders arrest of 7 former officials for wrongdoings under President Flores’ Administration in El Salvador.
Attorney General's Office brings corruption charges against 20 ex government officials, including 7 high level administrators of the Francisco Flores presidency, 1999-2005, in El Salvador.
This past Monday, the Attorney General's Office (FGR) of El Salvador ordered the arrest of former Minister of Economy, Miguel Lacayo, the President of the Commission Rio Lempa (CEL, the national energy operator in El Salvador), Guillermo Sol Bang and several ex officials of the administration of former president Francisco Flores.
Attorney General of El Salvador, Luis Martinez, accuses them of embezzlement.
Attorney General of El Salvador accuses ARENAS’s ex government officials of corruption in a contract awarding procedure to ENEL, an Italian energy heavyweight, which in march 21, 2001, became an strategic partner of CEL. Through the alleged rigged procedure, ENEL became the sole decision maker of all geothermal energy produced in El Salvador, in detriment of national interests.
Geothermal energy represents about 28% of total national energy consumption in El Salvador, with an estimated gross income of 283 million dollars. Geothermal energy is a natural resource that belongs to the state and protected by the Constitution.
The arrest is also against seven other former government officials including Jorge Jose Siman Zablah, Pedro Jose Escalon Bales, Julio Alberto Olano Noyola, Carlos Jacinto Chavarria Aguilar, Hawk Roy Thomas Baker, José Ricardo Palomo Deneke and José Vicente Calderon Machado, all former executives of CEL and LaGeo.
According to investigation by the Attorney General's Office, in 2001, former minister of economy, Miguel Lacayo, instigated CEL’s Board of Directors to pass a resolution to open the door to ENEL’s entry into the geothermal energy business in El Salvador.
The adjudication process by which ENEL entered the geothermal energy market in El Salvador was fraudulent, as it obeyed particular interests over the public at large, said Saul Morales, the special prosecutor assigned to the case.
The adjudication process by which ENEL entered the geothermal energy market in El Salvador was fraudulent, as it obeyed particular interests over the public at large, said Saul Morales, the special prosecutor assigned to the case.
ENEL’s entry into geothermal energy business in El Salvador has to be approved by the National Assembly, not the Board of Directors of any company, private or public, “the Salvadoran subsurface belongs to the state” said the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador in a resolution released on June 27th, 2012.
Currently ENEL and El Salvador are fighting a legal dispute over the control of La Geo, the mix capital subsidiary responsible for geothermal energy production in El Salvador.
