Creates a fictitious canned food company in Peru to benefit from food quality program

According to the Peruvian newspaper Cuarto Poder, Noemí Alvarado, a former Frigoinca employee, has stated that Nilo Burga created a fictitious company called Tierra Inca Food, with the brand name “Don Nilo”, to benefit from contracts in the south of the country, such as in Puno, with Qali Warma’s food suppliers, due to the fact that the regulations could be modified during the administration to have the macro-regional label that forced suppliers to buy only from Burga’s company.
Between 2019 and December 2022, the company was registered as the manufacturer of Don Simón canned meats, owned by Nilo Burga, under this modality 108 contracts were signed for more than S/238 million.

Cuarto Poder claims that Burga needed to establish a factory in Puno to comply with the macro-regional product purchase requirements established for suppliers, but the plant never existed because -according to the newspaper- “everything was done from the Chepén factory”. “everything was done from the factory in Chepén”, and that this was only one of the many mechanisms used by the businessman to expand his sales and increase his profits.

The First Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Corruption of Public Officials of Lima (Fourth Office) conducted a search and seizure of 17 properties linked to 14 persons under investigation for the crime of criminal organization, collusion, influence peddling, active and passive bribery, for alleged acts of corruption related to the commercialization of canned food in poor condition to the National School Food Program Qali Warma.

The proceedings were carried out simultaneously in 10 districts of Metropolitan Lima and in Huaura, where documents and devices relevant to the investigation were seized and their contents will be subjected to judicially authorized procedures for the visualization and extraction of information.

According to the public prosecutor’s investigation, this alleged criminal organization was allegedly constituted, promoted, financed, integrated and linked by members of the FrigoInca company and officials or public servants of the Qali Warma program.

This criminal network allegedly operated under a corruption mechanism consisting of the delivery of bribes to various officials of the aforementioned food program, of the General Directorate of Health (Digesa), and other State entities and private individuals, since approximately 2020.

The properties raided belong to the alleged members of the criminal organization as employees of FrigoInca: Nilo Burga (leader of the organization); Michael Burga, Edgar Capani, Alejandro Mendiola and Noemi Alvarado (key members); and Delia Zavaleta, Oliver Burga and Paul Burga (members).

The homes of the alleged members of the criminal network in their capacity as Qali Warma officials and public servants were also raided: the former executive director of Qali Warma Fredy Hinojoza, and the public servants of that program Víctor Salazar, Davilton Rodríguez, Deyvis Espinoza, Miguel Rosales, Yesabella Pazos (key persons), José Mera, Luis Álvares, Jean Chuquibala, Bredt Matos, José Floriano and Angel Apagueño (members).

Sixteen prosecutors, 15 public defenders and 13 computer experts from the Public Prosecutor’s Office participated in the proceedings.

In addition to this measure, the Judicial Power confirmed the seizure of 1,140 canned food products of the Don Simón brand that were immobilized last November 17 by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a warehouse located in North Lima.