Bolivia sends CAMC executive to jail in corruption scandal

A Bolivian court gave a jail sentence to the former country representative of China's CAMC Engineering in the nation's biggest corruption scandal in two decades.

La Paz region's first tribunal sentenced Gabriela Zapata to a 10-year prison term on charges of unlawful enrichment during her career at CAMC, one of the Andean country's biggest infrastructure contractors, district attorney Edwin Blanco told local media.

Zapata, who reportedly has a US$200,000 mortgage, bank accounts and several luxury cars, was unable to justify the origin of 8.2mn bolivianos (US$1.15mn) in income, according to La Paz-based newspaper La Razón. Several former officials from the ministry of the presidency were also handed prison terms ranging from 3-4 years.

Zapata, President Evo Morales' former girlfriend, made headlines last year when local media claimed that CAMC earned over US$500mn in infrastructure contracts due to her relationship with the president.

President Morales, who was sworn in for a third consecutive term last year, denied the accusations and was not included in the legal investigation. The Zapata scandal spurred Bolivians to reject a referendum last year to extend Morales' mandate to a fourth term, according to polling firms.

Zapata's lawyer Jorge Tamayo said he will appeal the sentence on the grounds that his client was denied the right of defense.

CAMC has been awarded railway, road and mining concessions over the past decade as Morales courted Chinese investors, but relations with China have soured as the government cancelled contracts with companies including CAMC and China Railway for allegedly failing to comply with investment commitments.

While Morales has pledged US$48.6bn in infrastructure and energy investments over the next five years, his government is struggling to line up financing as economic growth slows. Bolivia, which depends on natural gas for half its export revenue, saw export revenue drop 19% to US$7.214bn last year.

Morales, who first took office in 2006, has seized assets and cancelled contracts as part of a wave of expropriations that have included mining, oil, electricity, water and telecommunications companies, airports and pension funds.

WATER

In other infrastructure news, Oruro department's water company SELA invested 57mn bolivianos in potable water and sewerage projects last year, state news agency ABI reported. The company supplies 169lt/sec of water to 65,000 clients, according to general manager Rolando Herrera.

Bolivia, which suffered its worst drought in 30 years earlier this year, is now battling flooding and snowstorms which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the key mining region of Potosí. The emergency, which enables the central Andean department to tap a 5mn-boliviano natural disaster fund, covers 34 municipalities due to powerful winds, heavy snowfall and severe frost, Potosí regional governor Juan Carlos Cejas told ABI.