More than 40 million dollars “disappeared” in a prison that never worked in Zulia

More than 40 million dollars “disappeared” in a prison that never worked in Zulia

Photo: La Patilla

 

Julio Montoya, a former deputy of the National Assembly, denounced another millionaire robbery in Venezuela carried out by the former Minister of Penitentiary Affairs, Iris Valera.

By La Patilla

Apr 14, 2023

The amount totals 45 million dollars which were disbursed for the construction of a judicial prison in Zulia State. Today there is only dust and rubble.

The construction of the penitentiary center began in 2013 when then-minister Valera announced the creation of 45 new prison facilities in the country, but none came to fruition.

In Zulia State one was built in the San Francisco municipality, near the “El Rodeo I” neighborhood. The land chosen for the construction of the prison is far from the urban area, there are no roads and pedestrian or vehicular access is difficult.

During 2018, Varela announced that the work had been completed, but it was never known if it began to work as a penitentiary center.

Montoya highlighted that in the last two decades the only detention center that received any improvements or adaptations was the old shelter for minors in the San Francisco Municipality, which was transformed into a prison for women.

This is a building that dates back more than 60 years and the regime tried to make believe that it was the new Judicial Prison Center for the region.

Zulia is the most populous state in Venezuela, according to INE statistics, and it does not have a prison to house criminals, which is why convicted antisocials are transferred to other States.

This Friday the lapatilla.com team visited the inhospitable area where the prison was built. All the infrastructure is demolished and the place looks devastated.

For Montoya this act of corruption is inexplicable, because 45 million dollars vanished into thin air and there is no one to answer for these resources.

The construction was intentionally destroyed so that no evidence of the criminal act remained.

“The occasion is propitious to denounce this abominable fact: the prison was built, then it was abandoned, and from the forensic tests that have been carried out, it was determined that the building was destroyed with explosives so that it would not be audited. He urges the attorney general to deal with these events,” Montoya reiterated.

The political leader announced that next week he will go to the Public Ministry to register the complaint.

He highlighted that in El Salvador they built a prison a year ago for an amount of 22 million dollars, half of the amount disbursed for Zulia, and was then stolen.

Inhabitants who reside in the vicinity of the so-called Judicial Prison Center, in San Francisco, and who requested the reservation of their identity, said that the jail was ready, finished, but they never brought any prisoners.

A 35-year-old man said that 9 years ago he started working there, and that the only thing that was left to finish was the laundry. Then they fired him, they abandoned the work, and now there are only the remains of the building among rubble and dust.

According to the investigation carried out by the former parliamentarian, in the states of Yaracuy and Portuguesa the resources for works linked to the Ministry of Penitentiary Affairs also vanished into thin air (went up in smoke).

Read More: La Patilla – More than 40 million dollars “disappeared” in a prison that never worked in Zulia

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