BOGOTÁ – Colombian authorities have arrested seven legal representatives of companies accused of receiving stolen crude oil from Ecopetrol, the country’s state-owned oil company, as part of a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. The Prosecutor’s Office alleges a criminal network systematically extracted crude from the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, transporting it via tank trucks to illicit refining plants before reselling it.
The arrests mark a significant escalation in the investigation into the theft of Ecopetrol’s oil, a problem that has cost the company millions and raised concerns about potential complicity from within the company and public security forces. prosecutors have charged the detainees with crimes including conspiracy,illicit seizure of hydrocarbons,illicit enrichment,bribery,and falsification of private documents. The investigation is ongoing,with authorities examining the potential involvement of Ecopetrol officials and members of the security forces in facilitating the operation.
Investigators determined that criminals extracted the crude oil from the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, transported it in tank trucks, refined it at clandestine plants, and then resold it via trucks.”A prosecutor of the specialized leadership against criminal organizations presented those detainees before a guarantee control judge and charged them, according to their possible duty, the crimes of concert to aggravated crime, illicit seizure of hydrocarbons, illicit enrichment, bribery for giving or offering and falsehood in a private document,” stated the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating whether Ecopetrol officials and public force personnel were involved in the criminal network that enabled the alleged fraud against the state oil company.
