A group of 40 prosecutors came to Congress to look for documents to check if there are any personnel being paid without working. Assembly president Mario Ponce said he has tried to “clean the house” but has encountered “interests of other parties”.
A group of 40 prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General (FGR) against Corruption and Impunity raided the facilities of the Legislative Assembly yesterday as part of an investigation into the alleged existence of irregular places, said the public prosecution service.
The tax investigation was developed because of the alleged existence of positions that appear as employees of that state body, but only collect salaries, and also extends to the people who would have authorized those positions, the prosecution said.
The head of the prosecution’s anti-corruption unit, Germany’s Arriaza, explained that the raid involves personnel management and financial administrative management. The search was carried out with an order from the Fifth Peace Court in San Salvador, authorizing them to carry out the proceedings.
PHOTOS: This was the raid that the FGR carried out into the Legislative Assembly for investigation of alleged irregular places
“ We have a variety of pieces of evidence that allow us to request permission from the corresponding justice of the peace at this stage to carry out this registration, there are certain documentary and testimonial procedures that have been included that have allowed us to be authorized and that’s why we carry it out, ”Arriaza stated.
Photo EDH / Francisco Rubio
With the search, they want to seize documentation and computer equipment that will allow the FGR to obtain evidence for the investigation conducted, Arriaza said.
With the court order, prosecutors have 3 days to seize documents they deem important for the investigation of the so-called “ghost squares”.
“We are in the early stages and are going to collect all the information that will enable us to effectively determine if there are people who are being hired in this institution who are not doing their job as required by law,” said Arriaza.
The tax investigation extends to “establish the possible existence of a crime and also to establish with the same investigation who or who participated in that act in different capacities and therefore establish some sort of responsibilities. “said the head of the prosecutor’s anti-corruption unit.
With the raid, the Public Prosecution Service is investigating whether those responsible for authorizing the alleged irregular sites have committed the crimes of embezzlement (appropriation of state resources) and arbitrary acts.
He reported that in addition to the prosecutors, there are also computer technicians participating in the registry in the two areas where the recruitment of the personnel working in the different dependencies is verified.
The prosecution order comes after the Workers’ Union of the Legislative Assembly (SITRAL) denounced the existence of more than 1,200 phantom positions in the legislative body.
The head of the prosecution’s anti-corruption unit, Germany’s Arriaza, arrived at the Legislative Assembly and explained what the search warrant consists of. Photo EDH / Francisco Rubio
Keep reading: Ponce signals Gallegos to increase the number of seats in the Assembly since 2018
On Monday, Attorney General Raúl Melara said an investigation had already been launched into the possible existence of irregular positions in the Legislative Assembly, adding that “they take very seriously” everything that affects the state.
“From the moment we learned that there were possible irregularities in the allocation of ghost seats in the Legislative Assembly, we opened the corresponding file, an investigation is already underway. And we not only have what has appeared on social networks, but we also have statements from members of the Board of Directors of the Legislative Assembly confirming in one way or another that this exists, for which we are already researching and the dedication that we consider necessary to find the truth, ”said Melara.
Arriaza explained that “we are going to collect all the information that will allow us to determine if there are people who are effectively hired in this institution who are not performing their jobs as required by law.”
Prosecutors came to parliament to investigate alleged irregular posts. Legislative Assembly photo
In addition: Attorney General says he will investigate “haunted places” in the Legislative Assembly
The tax investigation extends to “establish the possible existence of a crime and also to establish with the same investigation who or who participated in that act in different capacities and therefore establish some kind of responsibility” , said Arriaza.
Currently, the Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether those responsible for authorizing the alleged “haunted sites” have committed the crimes of embezzlement (appropriating state resources) and arbitrary acts.
Ponce denounces interests that prevent him from ‘cleaning the house’
In response to the union’s complaints last week, Congress President Mario Ponce explained that when he took over the Assembly’s administration, he discovered that many positions had already been taken on by previous governments. He also mentioned that he tried to “put the house in order” but could not because of “interests of other parties”.
He noted that he would have issued a voluntary retirement decree offering up to $ 35,000 as compensation, so that “all those who don’t work at the facility or who have a surplus at the facility leave. That decree? Only 14 people wouldn’t go. , “he said. He also said that when he took office, former President of the Assembly, Norman Quijano of ARENA, left him “in a complicated situation”.
There are 2,400 seats in the Legislative Assembly, of which about 1,100 are allocated to political parties.
On March 12, Ponce said that when he assumed the presidency of the Assembly, and when Norman Quijano entered the presidency, both had found a large number of positions transferred from contracts to the salary bill.
The President of the Assembly specifically referred to the period during which GANA’s deputy Guillermo Gallegos served as head of the Legislative Assembly, during the last year and a half of the 2015 to 2018 term.
Mario Ponce took office in the Assembly in the second half of the current parliamentary term. For the first year and a half, the Congress was chaired by Deputy Norman Quijano, of ARENA, who received parliamentary ownership from Deputy Gallegos, who ended his term in April 2018.