The government of Guatemala announced on Monday the first complaint against former president Alejandro Giammattei for the crimes of abuse of authority, influence peddling and breach of duties.
The accusation is related to the alleged creation of a ghost position for a close friend of his, who would have co-opted institutions of the Guatemalan electricity system for acts of corruption for his own benefit.
The complaint was presented by the General Secretariat of Planning and Programming (Segeplan) headed by Carlos Mendoza, who said that the ghost plaza was created in that institution for Melvin Ernesto Quijivix Vega, an engineer specialized in electrical energy, close to Giammattei.
Quijivix Vega first worked at the Government Center, an institution that channeled aid during the pandemic and was directed by Miguel Martínez, a close friend of the president. The entity was closed in 2021 due to complaints of duplication of functions.
After his departure from the Government Center, Mendoza said, a position “tailored to him” was created for Quijivix Vega in Segeplan, another government institution, to carry out consultancy services for which he would have received more than 100,000 dollars, and about 220,000 dollars in representation expenses, without having to attend “a single day of work.” They were “services that were never provided to the institution,” Mendoza added.
The objective, according to the complaint, was to attribute functions that would allow Quijivix Vega to become president of the National Institute of Electrification (INDE) to “capture the institution”, where he then authorized contracts to related companies, including members of Quijivix’s own family. Vega, benefiting them with million-dollar contracts.
“One of those hires… was his wife Nina Patricia Román Rojas,” the complaint says.
The “ghost plaza” gave Quijivix Vega powers to participate in high-level meetings and specific government cabinets, something that by law is only the responsibility of the head of Segeplan.
consulted by the AP Regarding the complaint against him, Quijivix said he would not comment on the complaint.
Martínez and Quijivix Vega were sanctioned by the United States government, which included them in its list of corrupt actors in the Central American country, revoking their entry visa to their country. The United States also prohibited its citizens from having business ties with Martínez under the Magnitsky Act.
Mendoza explained that in 2021, the then secretary of Segeplan, Luz Keila Virginia Gramajo Vílchez, began the process to create the position, despite the fact that the National Civil Service Office did not authorize the hiring because it considered that Quijivix Vega did not meet technical or technical conditions. legal for the position. Even so, Gramajo Vílchez forwarded the file with the approval of President Giammattei, so the position was created.
On January 16, two days after the new government of Bernardo Arévalo took office, Quijivix Vega was dismissed. The internal investigation into the position for which he received a salary between 2021 and 2024 began after he presented himself to claim compensation.
Mendoza assured that no one from Segeplan recognizes him as a worker, nor had they seen him in the institution, since he never showed up for work, so no compensation was given to him.
After Segeplan’s refusal to pay the compensation claimed by Quijivix Vega, he filed a labor lawsuit against the institution.
The government said that on Monday it will present the complaint against Giammattei, Gramajo Vílchez and Quijivix Vega for crimes ranging from abuse of authority, influence peddling and breach of duties, embezzlement, illegal appointments to fraud.
The AP He tried to get a comment from Giammattei, but he did not answer the phone numbers registered as his.
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