CPI: PREPA board departures do not bring stability

On June 29, 2012, the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) reported that corruption allegations and mismanagement forced out the chair and vice-chair of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) board — both appointed by Governor Luis Fortuño — without ending the governing body’s instability.

Chair Marimar Pérez Riera acknowledged staying in an $800 New York hotel night paid with public funds. Vice-chair engineer José Pérez Canabal resigned after the governor’s request and referrals to the Justice Department and the Office of Government Ethics once it emerged he benefited from a multimillion-dollar renewable-energy contract with PREPA.

The electrical workers’ union UTIER denounced a 2011 board contract of $189 million to Tropical Solar Farm to produce power in Guayanilla. The incorporator is Roberto Torres Torres, a neighbor of Pérez Canabal; the corporation’s address, phone and email match Galexda Development, whose president is Pérez Canabal. Referral to Justice/Ethics ≠ formal charge ≠ conviction.

José Ortiz — who also chairs the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority — took over the PREPA board. CPI recounted allegations about Jerome Garffer Croly (an email published by NotiCel about favoring a businessman identified as a PNP loyalist; the official distanced himself from the document) and his record per the PPD and MINH complaints. Juan Rosario and Agustín Irizarry (public interest) already attended meetings; Rosario asked that Pérez Canabal’s contracts and the Garffer accusation not go undiscussed. Garffer was nominated in 2009 to PREPA, Industrial Development and Commerce and Export boards, and chaired the Retirement System Investment Committee. Primary: CPI 2012-06-29.

Source: Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2012/06/bajas-en-la-junta-de-la-aee-no-traen-estabilidad/