The Colombian Prosecutor's Office charges corruption for a former Spanish director of Inassa

The Colombian Prosecutor's Office accused Edmundo Rodríguez Sobrino, former director of the Spanish company Inassa, Latin American subsidiary of the Canal de Isabel II, in corruption in the judicial process by the millionaire embezzlement of Triple A, a basic sanitation company in Barranquilla.

Rodríguez Sobrino, prosecuted in Spain in the so-called "Lezo case" and strong man of former Madrid president Ignacio González in Latin America, is investigated for the crimes of unfair administration, illicit enrichment and falsehood in a private document.

Last September, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia (Public Prosecutor's Office) opened a disciplinary investigation against the former director as the person responsible for "fictitious" contracts between Inassa and Recaudos y Tributos, and for "fraudulent" management of State social subsidies of the water of Barranquilla.

In this Thursday's hearing, which was virtual, Rodríguez Sobrino did not appear at the headquarters of the Colombian Foreign Ministry in Madrid but his lawyer did, who assisted him in the judicial procedure.

The process began on October 4, 2018 when the Prosecutor's Office announced the embargo for the purpose of extinction of ownership of shares for 202,000 million pesos (about 67 million dollars) of Inassa in Triple A, a company that manages the public services of Barranquilla , the main city of the Colombian Caribbean.

These shares correspond to 82% of the capital of Triple A, which is owned by Inassa, a Latin American subsidiary of the Spanish public company Canal de Isabel II.

Similarly, the prosecutor issued sanctions for eight executives and former directors, several of them Spanish.

As the Prosecutor's Office announced last year, the evidence that rests in the file relates events that occurred from 2000 to 2017 in which alleged fraudulent payments were detected through a "technical assistance contract", which would have caused a detriment equity close to 236,853 million pesos (about 70 million dollars today) to Triple A.

The contract dates back to September 4, 2000, when Inassa and Triple A agreed to deliver 4.5% of the monthly collection of household sewage, aqueduct and cleaning services in exchange for alleged assistance in commercial, operational, administrative management and technique

The researchers estimate that the millionaire sum would have been paid in 17 years of this contract, value that updated with the consumer price index (CPI) would reach more than 329,000 million pesos (about 97 million dollars today).