The Attorney General’s Office charged the crime of public servant influence peddling to the president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, for allegedly having intervened improperly to favor to a close businessman in an energy project related to the Hocol subsidiary.
According to the accusing body, Roa, who attended the proceedings on time, would have influenced Luis Enrique Rojasthen president of Hocol, so that the regasification project Chuchupa-Ballena LNG was assigned to a company linked to the employer Juan Guillermo Mancera. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this action would have violated the principles of transparency and objectivity that should govern the public service.
Find out: Ricardo Roa will be charged this Wednesday for confusion in the purchase of a luxurious apartment
The investigation indicates that Roa had a personal interest in favoring Mancera, since both had previously carried out a business negotiation for the purchase of an apartment in Bogotá. The property, located in apartment 901 of the Entre Parques buildingwas acquired by Roa for $1.8 billiondespite the fact that its commercial value was $2,727 millionwhich would represent a difference close to the 34% below market price.
According to the accusation, in that operation Mancera also acted as intermediary and guarantor of payment of the property in installments and without interest. The property was transferred by public deed on December 7, 2022a document in which it was recorded that the seller received the full value. However, the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that the payments were made later, between January 2023 and March 2024through the company Innova Marketinglinked to Mancera, which allocated the resources to Price Centon Internationalowner of the apartment.
Read also: Did Juan Guillermo Mancera ‘conquer’ Ricardo Roa with an apartment for the gas business in Colombia?
For the investigating entity, the alleged benefit obtained in that transaction would have motivated Roa to give instructions to favor Mancera within the process related to the regasification project that was analyzed in Hocol, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol in charge of the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and operator of the Guajira association contract.
In the accusation it was indicated that the instruction would have been directed to Luis Enrique Rojaswho served as president of Hocol between the May 29, 2024 and April 30, 2025when he presented his resignation at Roa’s request.
Key meetings
The Prosecutor’s Office explained step by step when and how, allegedly, influence peddling by Ricardo Roa had been committed.
According to the investigating entity, Roa would have used his position as top manager of the business group to request that a business be favored for a
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the instructions to favor the businessman Juan Guillermo Mancera, with a contract, were given in at least two direct meetings with Luis Enrique Rojaswho was president of the subsidiary Hocol, a company of the Ecopetrol group.
The first reported encounter occurred on August 20, 2024, after a Hocol board of directors session. After finishing the formal company meeting, Roa and Rojas went out to lunch at the Flora restaurant, located in Bogotá.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, in the middle of that lunch Roa spoke about the Chuchupa-Ballena (LNG) regasification project and told Rojas that this contract should remain in the hands of Mancera’s company.
That is, according to the accusation, the first direct request was made there for the business to be awarded to the company. GAXI ESP SAS, owned by the businessman near Roa.
Expand the news: Hocol, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol, rejects accusations from its former president and denies alleged espionage: here are the details
The second meeting occurred between September and October 2024, again after a Hocol board of directors meeting. This time the appointment was at the Ecopetrol offices in Bogotá.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, at the end of the formal session, Roa asked that Luis Enrique Rojas be alone with him. At that time, he repeated the instruction that the project of regasification was awarded to the Mancera company. For investigators, this second conversation reinforced the pressure for the contract to end up in the hands of the businessman.
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the problem is not only the recommendation, but who made it and from what position. Roa was president of Ecopetrol since April 2023 and, In addition, he chaired the board of directors of Hocol, the subsidiary where the project was being evaluated.
According to the accusing body, this made him the highest authority of the business group, with the ability to influence key decisions.
For this reason, the Prosecutor’s Office affirms that he would have used his position to favor private interests, those of the businessman Mancera, to end up benefiting from the purchase of the apartment.
If found guilty, Roa faces a prison sentence between 64 and 144 monthsin addition to fines between 133 and 300 current legal monthly minimum wages.
