What is expected corruption scandal began with a self-report. The company of private security Securitas admitted in court to have paid millionaire bribes to officials between 2014 and 2018 to obtain contracts for surveillance services in different national public organizations, state companies and even government agencies of the Province of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Tucumán and CABA.
The confession was detailed in a file kept by federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado and which led to nine arrested and more than 50 raids in all the country.
The investigation began in 2020 when the company decided denounce their own former directors because “they abused and used the corporate structure, as well as their position in the market and the reputation of the group, with the sole purpose of obtaining a benefit for themselves and, indirectly, for the companies they represented,” they stated in the judicial presentation. , as revealed by the newspaper The nation.
Judicial sources cited by the same media detailed that the improper payments that Securitas accepted were from 2014 to 2018, that is, during the governments of Cristina Kirchner and Mauricio Macrialthough episodes have been investigated since 2012.
The list of organizations where the company admitted paying bribes includes the National Registry of Persons (Renaper), the National Agency for Controlled Materials (Anmac), he SENASA, naval Prefecture and the Airport Security Police. Also, in the state water company AYSA.
Among the reported cases of bribery, provincial agencies are mentioned, such as the energy company ENERSAof Between riversthe Police of the Province of Tucumán, and the Provincial Directorate for the Management of Private Security of Buenos Aires or the Buenos Aires Police – both cases, during the governorship of Maria Eugenia Vidal-.
Why the self-report and how and why the bribes were paid
Illegal payments mostly point to two issues: the first, trying renew, maintain or access public contracts. The second, to expedite procedures, such as the case of authorizations in which the “Registries of Security Guards of the City of Buenos Aires and the Province”, the Automotive Property Registry of the PBA or the Provincial Registry of Weapons are mentioned. There were also more particular cases: payments to expedite key issues for the activity, such as obtaining certificates so that agents can carry weapons or to have backup police in some specific surveillance.
In the details of cases, irregular payments are also reported in links with intermediate public service companies such as Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, the Argentina Cargo Terminal and even the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.
In another order, Securitas reported payment of bribes to the UOCRAthe construction union, to achieve surveillance contracts in plays of the state oil company YPF, Conicet and the Kirchner Cultural Center (CCK).
Securitas decided to denounce its own (now former) directors and treasurers as part of the “integrity program” of the company, when it was a subsidiary in Argentina of the homonymous firm Securitas AB, a multinational based in Sweden. Then, the Argentine company passed to another business group with Latin American capital. Those detained by Justice, until now, all held management positions in the company, but are no longer linked to it.
The payments detected have multiple formats and range from disbursements of 20 thousand pesos per month to payments of 42 million pesos. The private security company even resorted to ghost companies to hide some expenditures (as in the case of ENERSA or SENASA). The rubber stamps simulated supposed consultancies invoiced to hide the bribes.
