Ecopetrol chief under scrutiny

BOGOTA, March 14, 2017 – A number of high-ranking Colombian officials including Ecopetrol CEO Juan Carlos Echeverry are implicated in an investigation into a USD 6-billion corruption case involving the Reficar refinery expansion project.

A total of 47 officials, among them Echeverry and Colombia’s Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, are under an investigation to establish why additional expenses almost doubled the USD 3.46-billion cost of the expansion project.

Colombia’s Comptroller General said that if the officials are found guilty of “damage to the patrimony” they may be required to pay back a portion of the unaccounted-for funds.

The renovated refinery opened again in 2015, receiving its first load of crude after a ten-year expansion and renovation project.

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