Colombia: SIC takes down School Meals cartel

Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) made a historic charge against massive cartel discovered operating within the School Meals Plan (PAE) in the city of Bogotá that operated between 2007 and 2017.

The SIC has pinpointed the Colombian Association of Food Suppliers (Asoproval) and 10 contractors, as well as 18 individuals accused of manipulating the results of 21 public tender processes in the last 10 years. The largest, oldest and most consolidated contractors in the market had signed up not to compete with one another over areas to be covered.

“The accused even went so far as to present covert actions using their workers in a deceptive way to request that the rules of the tender be changed, alleging an alleged risk of unemployment, with their work oriented and coordinated by Asoproval,” the SIC said.

If the investigation confirms the violation, Asoproval and the 10 contractors under investigation could face a fine of $78.1 billion Colombian pesos (approximately US$27 million), while individuals will have to pay a fine of $1.5 billion pesos(US$542,200 approximately.)

Full Content: El Espectador

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