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Last year, Mexico’s National Film Library (Cineteca) purchased 2 thousand standard-sized palm mats for a total MXN$285,418 (value added tax included) from the company Estrategy & Solutions S.A. de C.V for the exhibition of films outdoors. They were first used at the Cultural Complex of Los Pinos , the former official residence and office of the President of Mexico, during the screening of Roma , by Alfonso Cuarón on December 13 . However, the company’s address led to an empty apartment in the Del Valle neighborhood of Mexico City and the phone number provided turned out to be fake.
Through the National Transparency Institute , a citizen requested for details on the purchase and asked if the mats had been procured by means of competitive tendering, direct award, borrowing, or donation; furthermore, he also inquired if the amount spent had been paid to artisans or intermediates.
The Transparency Liaison Unit responded under folio 0431000000319 that the National Film Library Trust , attached to the Ministry of Culture, had procured 2 thousand palm mats. The total amount paid was of MXN$246,050, plus VAT, for a total of MXN$285,418 .
The mats were procured via direct award in compliance with Article 26, subsection III and 42 of the Law of Procurement, Leasing, and Services for the Public Sector , which establishes that up to three people can award contracts without public tenders.
The Transparency Institute also informed that shipping costs rose to MXN$16 thousand , plus the corresponding VAT, and that the mats are currently stored in the tennis court at Los Pinos.
The purchase was authorized by the Assistant Director of Material Resources and General Services, Luis Alberto Flores Ortiz , and the director of Administration and Finance, Vicente Fernando Cázares Avilés , from the National Film Library, as well as the supplier Marcela Hernández .
Information concerning the contract signed with the company Estrategy & Solutions was requested from the Ministry of Culture, which responded through a briefing that there had been an error in the data capture for the company’s tax residence, since Estrategy & Solutions’ tax residence had changed recently.
'Misplaced' documents
The government body provided a new address in the city of Zempoala, Hidalgo: 4-A, Pimero de Mayo avenue, Lindavista neighborhood . However, local neighbors claimed that the apartment had been abandoned for about two years and that the company Estrategy & Solutions had never operated there.
The supplier, Marcela Hernández Pacheco claimed that the company had indeed operated in the apartment since 2017 and that the error in the data capture for the purchase of 2 thousand palm mats from the company Estrategy & Solutions was due to the fact that both the company and the National Film Library had worked with a very tight deadline for the delivery of the products.
However, there are other irregularities in the payment bill. The phone number provided by the Estrategy & Solutions company had been deregistered a year before. Moreover, the company failed to provide water and electricity bills, as well as the apartment’s lease contract, arguing that the documents had been misplaced .
The Article 59 of the Law of Procurement states that bidders or suppliers that fail to comply with the provisions of said law will be sanctioned by the Ministry of Public Affairs with a fine equivalent to 50 to 1,000 times the minimum wage in Mexico City at the time of the violation.
Furthermore, the Article 60 establishes that those who provide false information or act fraudulently or dishonestly during contractual procedures or during the contract’s period of validity will be subject to sanctions.
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