El Salvador Overpaid $7 Million to Shell Company for Undelivered Milk During Pandemic

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, August 22, 2024
Jimmy Alvarado and Jonny Wrate*

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In the chaotic first week of the Covid pandemic, El Salvador paid an offshore company $27 million USD to provide milk powder for its hungry citizens — but the shell firm overcharged and under-delivered, pocketing $7 million, a government audit found.

The 2021 audit —which probed the entire food distribution program, involving several firms and products— revealed little about the company tapped to deliver milk powder.

Now, reporting by El Faro and OCCRP has shed light on the opaque company.

Aroum Group Inc. is registered in the British Virgin Islands, where regulations provide corporate anonymity. But the company’s website reveals the identity of one person involved with the firm.

The man who set up Aroum Group’s website was a Venezuelan named Wiomar Castillo, who described himself on LinkedIn as the firm’s “international trade manager.”

Castillo’s role, if any, in securing the contract for Aroum Group is unclear. He is from the same Venezuelan city as Tomás Hernández, an advisor to El Salvador’s president, but it is not known if they are personally acquainted.

More:
https://elfaro.net/en/202408/el_salvador/27536/el-salvador-overpaid-7-million-to-shell-company-for-undelivered-milk-during-pandemic