Audit finds overpayments to Landsmanas companies; points out irregularities in contracts

Since at least 2018, the Superior Auditor of the Federation (ASF) has found various irregularities in contracts awarded by the federal government to companies of Jack Landsmanas's Corporativo Kosmos. Among the irregularities detected by the Superior Auditor of the Federation are overpayments, extraordinary payments without justification, higher payments compared to contracts with other federal agencies, delayed payments, breach of contracts, among others. In the 2018 Public Account, the ASF found that the company Productos Serel —part of Corporativo Kosmos— incurred various irregularities in a contract awarded by the national DIF for the contracting of cafeteria services and laboratory, fumigation, and transportation services within the established deadlines. The ASF sees a loss of 6 million pesos in a contract between the Federal Police and Kol Tov in which a concept of extraordinary rates was implemented for lodging and food services. A year later, in the 2019 Public Account, the audit found that in the first year of the government of then-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the now-defunct Federal Police awarded lodging and food service contracts to the company Kol Tov, which presented various irregularities, resulting in damages to the public treasury of more than 11 million pesos. EL UNIVERSAL reported this week that since December 2018, companies of Jack Landsmanas's Corporativo Kosmos have obtained contracts with federal agencies and state governments for food services, acquisition of medicines, and pharmaceutical products. According to a review of records from the National Transparency Platform (PNT) and Compras MX, corresponding to the period from December 1, 2018 to the present, Landsmanas's companies accumulated at least 25,787,791,404 pesos in public contracts. In the 2018 Public Account, in the last year of President Enrique Peña Nieto's government, the Superior Auditor of the Federation detected various irregularities in contracts given by the DIF to the company Productos Serel for cafeteria services. There were errors in arithmetic calculations, which caused overpayments of 754,482.74 pesos. The ASF also called for an investigation and, where appropriate, sanctions for irregularities by public servants who, in their management, did not correctly calculate the penalties nor monitor that the service provider, Productos Serel, S. A. de C. V., delivered the laboratory, fumigation, and transportation contracts within the deadlines established in the contract, nor that the vehicles for transporting perishables met the eight-year age requirement and had health and fumigation certificates. It is also indicated that the public servants did not collect the 82 forms that certify the oversight of service provision in the cafeteria areas. "A probable damage or harm, or both, to the Federal Public Treasury is presumed in the amount of 754,482.74 pesos due to the overpayment for services not earned and errors in the calculation of penalties, as well as the failure to apply conventional penalties in contracts B-DAP-02-18 and B-DAP-10-18 entered into with Productos Serel, S. A. de C. V., and in the second contract, in joint participation with Recursos y Soluciones, S. A. de C. V., and for the late submission of the supporting documentation for the provision of services, for 44,594.97 pesos of the aforementioned contracts, in violation of the Regulations of the Federal Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility, Article 66, Section III; Clause Sixteenth of contracts B-DAP-02-18 and B-DAP-10-18. "In addition, the SNDIF did not provide 82 forms from three locations, which certify the oversight of the provision of the service [supervision reports on the receipt of raw materials and attendance of kitchen staff, among others], which are the inputs for preparing the report on delays incurred by the provider." The audit conducted by the agency in 2019 details that when reviewing contracts PF/SG/CSG/DGRM/C008/2019 and PF/SG/CSG/DGRM/C018/2019, it was found that no adequate market research was conducted when awarding the contract to the company Kol Tov for the lodging, food, and logistics support service in the tactical-operational deployment of the Federal Police in the Mexican Republic. Because of this, the ASF found that more was paid for this service compared to a similar one carried out by the Federal Protection Service (SPF). It was also found that the certificate of compliance with contractual obligations was not provided, which would have allowed verification of whether the company complied with the obligations established in the contract and its technical annex. "A probable damage or harm, or both, to the Federal Public Treasury is presumed in the amount of 6,092,626 pesos due to the fact that the Federal Police, under amparo of open modification agreement number SEGOB/PF/SG/CSG/DGRM/C019-1/2018, formalized with the company Kol Tov, S. A. de C. V., made payments for lodging and food services under the concept of extraordinary rates without the special conditions of the locations where the services were provided being accredited to justify the payment of such extraordinary rates. "A probable damage or harm, or both, to the Federal Public Treasury is presumed in the amount of 5,172,467.06 pesos due to the fact that the Federal Police, under amparo of open contract number PF/SG/CSG/DGRM/C008/2019, formalized with the company Kol Tov, S. A. de C. V., paid for extraordinary rates for which the circumstances and justifications for having that character were not accredited." In this same audit, it was found that the Federal Police awarded contract PF/SG/CSG/DGRM/C003/2019 to Productos Serel for the service of sanitary booths, mobile showers, and equipment for events in general (tent, tarps, tables, chairs, etc.), in which various inconsistencies were determined, including the failure to document the justification for awarding the contract through direct adjudication. Based on this, the audit recommended an investigation and, where appropriate, the initiation of administrative proceedings against the public servants who, in their management at the Federal Police, justified the exception to public bidding in order to carry out the direct adjudication of the sanitary booth, mobile shower, and general event equipment service from which that contract was derived. You may be interested in: "The left understood the social media algorithm too late": Camila Vallejo, former spokesperson for Boric, highlights Sheinbaum's leadership; Reginaldo Sandoval affirms that a new survey will be conducted in Michoacán; "we support Raúl Morón," he says; Fugitives handed over by the US to Mexico total 360, highlights Ambassador Johnson, who acknowledges bilateral cooperation.