A Corruption Case Involving Contract

Based in Bogota, Colombia, Jaime Lombana is the founder of a law firm that handles financial, tax, and criminal matters. In one noteworthy case before the Supreme Court of Justice in 2021, Jaime Lombana represented witnesses who claim that members of the Parliament involved contract fixing beneficiaries during the tenure as Governor of current Congressman Richard Aguilar. Also named in the suit is Congressman Edwin Ballesteros, who managed a public services company at the alleged corruption.

As Attorney Lombana described it to Noticias Caracol, the witnesses he is working with engaged with a parallel office that existed to structure deals to the requirements of specific contractors. Enabling this “made-to-measure” bidding and contract fixing arrangement were payments, bribes, and commissions that never appeared on the official ledger. In total, contracts approved under this scheme are estimated to be in the 500 billion peso range.

Described as the “tip of the iceberg,” the incident that led the Prosecutor's Office to pursue investigation was a 3,000 million peso bribe related to the renovation of the Alfonso López de Bucaramanga Stadium. With this 22 billion peso project still not reaching completion, the contract fixing case led to other similar discoveries, such as that involving an aqueduct project in Landazuri.