Peru rattled by aftershock of corruption following earthquake

The magnitude-8 earthquake that rocked Peru’s southern coast last August has been called the earthquake of corruption, as accusations of government mismanagment and profiteering continue to shake out.
On August 20, Peru’s National Police found 76 bags stuffed with 330 pounds of donated food and clothing hoarded in the house of María Rosas García, a civil defense coordinator from La Victoria district in Lima. Shortly after, Juan Enrique Mendoza, the regional governor of quake-devasted Pisco, complained that officials from the comptroller-general’s office were unnecessarily withholding food, clothing and medicine.
Another 15 people from the Seguro Integral del Salud (SIS), a division of the Health Ministry, are currently under investigation for allegedly taking kickbacks on the purchase of overpriced food rations. Among them is Julio Espinoza Jiménez, the former head of the division.
Within two days of the earthquake, the Plamol shoe company overcharged SIS more than US$700,000 for 219,000 food rations. Local media started asking why the bid was awarded to a shoe company.
Espinoza Jiménez says Peru’s Health Minister Carlos Vallejos cleared the purchases. Vallejos denies the claim. During an interview with IPS news service, Congressman Renzo Reggiardo said “the officials who committed irregularities are mid-level. They couldn’t have acted alone, on their own. There must be people higher up who have backed these irregular activities.”