Colombia's Attorney General's Office has issued charges against three Ministry of Justice officials over alleged irregularities in a contract worth over 2.18 billion pesos for air ticket supplies. The charges stem from awarding the contract to a bidder lacking required experience and offering artificially low prices. Payments were also authorized despite the failure to apply a promised 12.50% discount.
Colombia's Attorney General's Office, through its Second Contracting State Division, has launched an probe into irregularities in the 2023 selection process for supplying air tickets to the Ministry of Justice and Law. The contract, valued at over 2.18 billion pesos, was awarded under the oversight of Helén Ortiz Carvajal, the then-general secretary. The office alleges that she overlooked the contractor's failure to meet minimum experience requirements outlined in the bidding conditions and the submission of artificially low prices.
Andrés Vergara Ballén, coordinator of the Financial and Accounting Management Group and a member of the evaluation committee, faces charges as well. He is accused of technically qualifying the bidder, recommending its award both technically and financially, and authorizing a payment during contract execution, despite the noted issues and the contractor's failure to apply the 12.50% net fare discount.
Derly González Ariza, another contract supervisor, signed payment authorizations from February to November 2024, even though the contractor did not implement the discount specified in the auction. The officials' actions have been preliminarily classified as very serious due to grave fault.
This move by the Attorney General's Office aims to uphold transparency in state contracting processes, underscoring the need to verify compliance with requirements in public tenders.
