The Government of Potosí acquired another five vehicles in the "gray" market

 The Governor's Office purchased five vehicles for the Police. They entered the country as 'reconditioned'. With this modality they paid less taxes

In addition to the 41 ambulances acquired with irregularities, the Governor's Office of Potosí purchased another five vehicles from Estefals Logistics. Unlike the first case, the units are in the country and were paid for.

However, in both cases, the seller of the vehicles went to the "gray" market through a supplier operating from Chile, according to information compiled by EL DEBER.

The vehicles arrived on December 28 and 30, 2021 at the Police Maintenance Center (Cemapol), according to the two delivery certificates signed within the terms established in two other contracts signed by Governor Jhonny Mamani, between November and December 2021. The contracting was direct and only this company participated in the bidding process.

These vehicles were registered on December 31 in the RUAT of the municipality of Potosí with license plates: 5691-YDF; 5680-IGH; 5680-IFE; 5680-IHL, and 5691-YCC. 

In this system, the Governor's name appears as the legal representative of these assets, which are property of the Governor's Office.

The origin of these five vans is Thailand. They arrived in the country in October 2021 through the Industrial Free Trade Zone of Patacamaya with an "under-invoiced" price of US$ 25,000, less than what the Governor's Office paid for these goods. In addition, the vehicles paid a lower tax because they were treated as "reconditioned", according to their Single Import Declaration (DUI).

The manager of the Bolivian Automotive Chamber, Luis Encinas, explained that companies such as Logistics buy vehicles in "grey" markets and import them with an "under-invoiced price in Iquique (Chile)", lower than the real cost, in order to avoid taxes.

Contracts

The Governor's Office of Potosí signed four contracts with Estefals and Governor Jhonny Mamani announced that these would be annulled. However, in the case of the motorcycles for the Police, these were already delivered and have license plates with the proper registration before the RUAT.