TEGUCIGALPA.
Marco Antonio Bográn, former Executive Director of Strategic Investment of Honduras (Invest-H) Y Alex Alberto Morales placeholder image, former administrative director of the same institution, were arrested yesterday by the Prosecution (MP) charged with committing two crimes at the time of the direct purchase of the seven mobile hospitals.
Besides that, the MP has also filed a tax ban against Axel Gamaliel López, legal representative of Hospitalesmoviles.com and Elmed Medical Systems Inc., for the crimes of fraud against the public administration.
After a long and painstaking investigation led by prosecutor Héctor Morales, which began to be carried out on July 7, 2020 and lasted nine consecutive months, Special prosecution service for transparency and anti-corruption in government (Fetccop), la National Tax Support Unit (Unaf) and the Criminal Investigation Office (Atic) it was concluded that Bográn and Moraes committed the crimes of violation of the duties of the officials and two crimes of fraud to the detriment of the State of Honduras, for a total amount of L 1,174.5 million.
The defendants were arrested yesterday while making statements for another investigation process in the prosecutor’s office.
At 2:45 PM a team from the Atic they broke into the courtroom where Bográn and Moraes testified for the overvalued purchase of drugs, when an agent informed them that they were under arrest and charged with the above crimes.
Marco Tulio Castro, Bográn’s legal defender, assured everything was a trap, “they are calling him on this case, but then informing him that he is being remanded in custody.”
The former officers were placed under orders of the Criminal Court of First Instance in Matters of Corruption on the outskirts of 4:45 PM.
The judge in the case immediately proceeded to develop the defendant’s hearing, in which the judicial arrest warrant was issued and ordered that both be sent to the First Infantry Battalion.
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Case of mobile hospitals Buys. March and April 2020. On March 19 and April 2, the government of Honduras paid in cash through Invest-H to hospitalsmoviles.com and Elmed Medycal Inc. more than $ 47 million for seven hospitals, three with 91 beds and four with 51 beds, to care for patients with Covid-19. Dismissal. June 27, 2020. The Government of the Republic decided to remove Marco Bográn from the position of Executive Director of Invest-H, after the institution’s board of directors recommended his resignation to the President of the Republic for the purchase of mobile hospitals. Audience. July 7, 2020. The prosecution called Marco Bográn to testify for the purchase of the seven mobile hospitals, he was suspected of the crimes of abuse of authority, fraud, misappropriation of public funds and violation of the duties of officials. Failure. April 2021. A year after purchasing the seven mobile hospitals, Invesy-H admitted that they did not have the capacity and conditions to care for patients infected with Covid-19, calling it “the worst scam”. |
Likewise, he scheduled the first hearing for today at 9:30 am, where the various pieces of evidence will begin to evacuate.
Likewise, the Attorney General’s Office began conducting the first international proceedings with US agencies to order the arrest of Axel López, who is domiciled in Miami, Florida, United States.
Authorities hope he will be extradited to Honduras to answer for the crimes of fraud as a necessary employee he is accused of.
Oscar Chinchilla, Attorney General of the Republic, said any act of corruption is reprehensible and reprehensible, but those committed in the context of the pandemic exceed the capacity for outrage that all residents of Honduras can have.
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3 keys to mobile hospitals Capacity reduction. Without commissioning, it was decided to reduce the capacity of hospital beds for a limited space. Not suitable for covid patients. Experts acknowledged that mobile hospitals were not used to care for people with Covid-19. Delay. Within a year of purchase, only two mobile hospitals have been fully installed, Invest-H says it’s the supplier’s fault. |
Fraudulent purchase
In the context of the onset of the pandemic HondurasIn March and April 2020, Marco Bográn negotiated with López to purchase the seven mobile hospitals for a value of USD 47,512,564 (L1,174.5 million).
“They purchased the said hospitals directly and fraudulently with Mr López… paying one hundred percent of the price in advance, without the supplier having the required technical and financial capacity, without negotiating the granting of guarantees. interests of the state and without the prior consent of the board of directors Invest-HThe prosecution said in a statement.
The Public Prosecution Service also indicated that according to the financial information obtained by the authorities from USA Axel Lopez Just because he served as an intermediary, he made a profit of more than $ 20 million in exchange for the transfer of the seven hospital units to the state.
Biomedical reports and expert advice and inspections conducted concluded that the hospital facilities do not meet the conditions required for the isolation and treatment of people affected by the coronavirus, causing “ massive damage to the health of the Honduran population and the public. heritage is infused. . “
The Prosecution reported that “investigation into this fact continues to establish the participation and responsibility of other people involved in the commission of crimes.”
Hospitals are not suitable
The mobile hospitals that were bought by the state that would serve to care for the population affected by the covid-19 virus were useless to the pandemic.
Recently, the intermediate committee of Invest-H recognized that mobile hospitals are not suitable for treating coronavirus patients.
José Ernesto Leva, Chair of the Intermediate Committee, acknowledged that they are not technically fit to deal with the pandemic of the COVID-19.
“We received an infinite number of promises from Axel López that the hospitals would be installed on time, making installation promises that we failed to keep but failed to keep because it is the fault of Invest-H, but rather from the supplier who never complied, ”said Leva Bulnes. To date, only the mobile hospital installed in San Pedro Sula operates and treats patients with covid-19, but not with the promised 91-bed capacity.
The mobile hospital Tegucigalpa was determined to serve to ease Escuela hospital’s surgical delay and not to care for patients with the virus.
The remaining five mobile hospitals They are still installed in Olancho, Copán, El Paraíso, Choluteca and Atlántida, without knowing when they will be ready, one year after their purchase; although it is known that they will not serve to care for the sick with the virus.