Representative Víctor Parés, chair of the Government Committee of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, said Monday he will refer Energy czar Josué Colón and lawyer Juan González Galarza to the Office of Government Ethics (OEG), the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Inspector General as part of the investigation into the contract awarded to Power Expectations. The first report on the legislative probe should be ready next week and will cover the first three public hearings, which included testimony from Colón, Osvaldo Carlo and Mary Zapata, plus more than a gigabyte of documents submitted to the committee.
The full House must approve the report. Parés declined to say whether crimes were identified, saying there "could be some actions" for investigative agencies to determine whether they are crimes. The probe found "irregularities" in awarding the temporary generation contract worth roughly $5.89 billion over 10 years; the agreement was ultimately canceled in August.
Parés called the process "totally irregular" and lacking transparency. González Galarza advises the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (AAPP), which Colón leads, and also the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA (AEE); PREPA). Carlo headed the pre-signing analysis as president of the Independent Procurement Office (3PPO); Zapata, the former PREPA executive director who signed and then canceled the contract, has said she was kept out of that process.
Parés wants Law 120 of 2018 amended so such contracts are handled by an entity accountable to Government Ethics and the Comptroller.