Trial looming. in $31 million irrigation scam

FIFTEEEN months after the start  of a criminal investigation  into a failed irrigation system in Tonosi, for which $31 million was  paid although little work was done, the third anti-corruption prosecutor has requested a trial for the people involved.

They include Felipe “Pipo” Virzi, who is under house arrest but was reported last week to have broken his detention order and is now facedsanother investigation. He was also a key player in the downfall of former Suprem Court Judge Moncada Luna, currently serving a five-year prison sentence

A judicial source confirmed to La Prensa, that Prosecutor Zuleyka Moore has concluded her investigation into the project, in which the Ecuadorian company Hidalgo & Hidalgo (H&H) was paid $31 million.

In September 2014, the prosecution charged H&H directors Juan Francisco Hurtado, Marco Alban Crespo and Víctor Ríos, as well as businessman Virzi, former ministers of Agricultural Development Oscar Osorio and Emilio Kieswetter and the former CD Deputy candidate Porfirio Ellis, among others, in the case.

Current Minister Jorge Arango declined to comment about the case, saying it is being handled by the Public Ministry but did say that the ministry is negotiating with H&H for the return of some of the funds. Virzi, who allegedly handled payments from the company that were meant for government officials as bribes, has already turned over $5 million to the National Treasury.