Ecopetrol CEO Ricardo Roa: Investigation, Suspension & Allegations of Influence Peddling
Ricardo Roa, president of Colombia’s state-owned oil company Ecopetrol, faces increasing pressure to resign following formal charges brought by the country’s top prosecutor for alleged influence-peddling, even as President Gustavo Petro signals his intention to retain Roa in the position. The legal action stems from accusations related to campaign finance violations during Petro’s 2022 presidential run and questions surrounding the handling of a sensitive internal investigation.
The Attorney General’s Office formally charged Roa, alleging he used his position to improperly influence the electoral process, according to a report from Finance Colombia. The charges center on alleged attempts to gather compromising information about political opponents during the campaign. Simultaneously, scrutiny has intensified over a contract awarded to the law firm Covington & Burling to investigate Roa’s conduct, which ballooned from an initial $875,000 to $5.6 million, raising concerns about potential misuse of company funds.
Ecopetrol’s board of directors convened on Tuesday to discuss Roa’s future, despite assurances from government sources that Petro intends to retain him in place, according to reporting from ColombiaOne.com. The board meeting comes amid mounting calls for Roa’s removal, including from Ecopetrol workers who have publicly turned their backs on the executive.
Adding to the complexity, Alberto Vergara Monterrosa, a former compliance officer at Ecopetrol who was removed from his position after raising concerns about the Covington & Burling contract, has re-emerged in the controversy. Vergara alleges that Ecopetrol funds were used to investigate individuals leaking information to the investigative unit of El Tiempo newspaper, a claim now under investigation by authorities.
In an interview with Caracol Radio, Vergara stated that Victoria Sepúlveda, Ecopetrol’s Vice President of Talent Organizational, informed him that Roa, along with Sepúlveda and the Vice President of Science and Technology, Sergio Moreno, authorized a contractor to identify the source of leaks to El Tiempo. Vergara further claimed that Sepúlveda acknowledged the action was irregular but resisted submitting a report to the company’s ethics hotline.
“The doctor [Roa] and she and the vice president of Science and Technology had hired a contractor from Ecopetrol to identify who had filtered the information that had been taken from my email and ended up in the Investigative Unit of El Tiempo,” Vergara said, as reported by ColombiaOne.com.
Vergara likewise alleged that a member of Ecopetrol’s board, Alvaro Torres Macías, unilaterally suspended the Covington & Burling investigation into Roa’s acquisition of a luxury apartment in Bogotá, preventing the company from examining the computers of Roa and 14 other Ecopetrol executives.
El Tiempo previously reported on Roa’s purchase of the apartment, triggering both an internal investigation within Ecopetrol and inquiries from U.S. Authorities. The newspaper also revealed that Ecopetrol initially claimed the publication of information regarding the Covington & Burling contract was a breach of confidentiality and threatened legal action.
The allegations against Roa extend to concerns about improper hiring practices within Ecopetrol, with Vergara claiming an investigation uncovered the hiring of a relative of Julián Caicedo Cano, a former partner of Roa, without adhering to standard procedures.
As of Tuesday, neither Ecopetrol nor the Attorney General’s Office have released further details regarding the investigation or the board’s deliberations. The outcome of the board meeting and the Attorney General’s case remain uncertain.