Banco Agrario responds to tax findings reported by the Comptroller's Office

One day after the Office of the Comptroller General of the Nation reported fiscal findings at Banco Agrario for more than $5,292 million pesos in various actions on subsidies for rural social housing, the financial institution's directives responded to the irregularities described by the watchdog.

The agency put the magnifying glass in the period from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021 and issued an adverse concept, which would be based on 36 administrative findings, of which 11 have an alleged fiscal impact, the report submitted said.

The document would establish that the Agrarian Bank would be affecting the rights of citizens to have decent housing in rural areas of the country. “The situations that occurred are due to non-compliance by contractors executing the works and audits, and the incorrect presentation of the projects by the bidders, which were endorsed by integral management or by the Bank at the time, without showing that they were underfunded,” the report states.

The accusations against Banco Agrario argue that “the beneficiaries of these housing projects have been withdrawn unilaterally, as a breach by contractors and auditors, or because of the incorrect presentation of the projects by the bidders”.

The company's directives specify that the Comptroller's Office refers to a project of subsidies allocated before 2010. “In this administration there have been no unilateral liquidations of projects, nor have beneficiaries been withdrawn from the program,” they clarify.

In the same audit by the Comptroller's Office, it would be verified that the Agrarian Bank was structuring projects on land not suitable for housing construction. “There is uncertainty regarding the ownership of the lots. The delivery of the houses has been advanced without meeting the technical requirements according to the defined rates, quantities of work carried out and paid to the contracted company”, assures the agency.

On this point, the Agrarian Bank indicated:

Regarding the delivery of the houses without meeting the technical requirements, “it is important to clarify that, according to the law, the Agrarian Bank is not the one who builds the houses, but the one who hires an actor called Integral Management, who in turn must hire the auditor of the work and the executor of the project”.

The Comptroller's Office also established that the bank does not monitor the housing use of housing. “In some cases, beneficiaries are using them for commercial purposes, through leases and using them for timber storage, without the Bank taking appropriate action for the repayment of the subsidy.”

Finally, the Comptroller's Office also reported on the expiry of project policies dated after August 7, 2018: “The Disciplinary Control Office of Banco Agrario initiated investigations into this issue and has already issued statements of objections against several officials of the Housing Management of the previous administration , who did not at the time make the relevant claims to the insurance companies”.

Banco Agrario concludes its defense, stating that “it is important to note that this administration initiated the claim of all policies that should have been claimed in previous years and took the necessary measures to ensure that situations of late claims do not arise again,” the statement states.

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