In another turn in the ongoing saga of Hugo Chávez ceding sovereign matters to Cuba, El Nacional reported on July 17 without clarifying that the new electronic identifications will be handled by a branch of a “technological” Cuban university called ALBET, which in turn has subcontracted a 100% owned Mexican subsidiary of the Dutch multinational Gemalto—for a sum of $40,500,000—for the provision of 6 million e-IDs. The contract between ALBET and Venezuela dates back to 2005, according to El País of Spain. Even more concerning, Ramiro Valdés, one of the most feared apparatchiks of the communist party in Cuba, is expected to be behind the contract.
However, Gemalto, as a Dutch publicly traded company, is the only party in this agreement that has to operate under some transparency rules, and it has refused to respond to any of my requests for information. In fact, there is nothing in Gemalto’s annual reports from the last three years that indicates a contract between its wholly owned Mexican subsidiary and ALBET. The $40,500,000 that supposedly changed hands is not reflected anywhere. Below are the emails I have sent so far.
From: Alek Boyd
Date: July 21, 2011 12:47:29 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected] undefined
Cc: [email protected], [email protected] undefined, [email protected] undefined, [email protected]
Subject: Re Supply of Gemalto Identifications in Venezuela
Dear Mr. Bonnot,
My name is Alek Boyd, a Venezuelan blogger based in London, who has called your office a couple of times about a supposed contract between a subsidiary of Gemalto (Mexico) and a Cuban agent for the provision of identifications to my country’s government. Your name was given to me by a kind secretary in your London office (Vicky).
I would greatly appreciate if you could read the message below and provide information on who might be the correct person to contact regarding the issues raised. Additionally, I would like to add to the following questions:
– Why would a publicly traded multinational like Gemalto not contract directly with the Venezuelan government? Why instead use a dubious Cuban intermediary?
Sincerely,
alek boyd
From: Alek Boyd
Date: July 20, 2011 16:55:47 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Re Supply of Gemalto Identifications in Venezuela
Dear Mr. Abdine,
El Nacional, one of Venezuela’s main newspapers, reported on July 17 that Gemalto de México had been contracted by a Cuban company called ALBET for a sum of USD $40,500,000 for the supply of identity documents to the Venezuelan government. The supposed contract between Gemalto de México and ALBET can be read, in Spanish, following this link:
http://www.el-nacional.com/www/files/documento/170711_ctarjetas.pdf undefined
The contract is said to have been signed on August 20, 2008. Given the contract amount and the reasonable nature of the services provided, one might think Gemalto would boast about it in its annual reports. However, I found no mention in the annual reports of Gemalto from 2008, 2009, or even 2010 regarding the contract between ALBET and Gemalto de México, which is described in its reports as a 100% owned subsidiary.
Of course, this raises some issues since Gemalto is a publicly traded company. To be frank, Venezuelans couldn’t care less how Gemalto conducts its business, where or how it declares its income, where or how it pays its taxes, etc. What does concern us is the fact that Gemalto de México seems to have been subcontracted by a Cuban set in violation of Venezuelan legislation, and as a result, could have received, if the contract is legitimate and executed, millions of dollars from Venezuelan taxpayers illegally.
Yesterday I called your office here in London to request verifications. After a brief explanation, a kind secretary named Vicky said that “someone senior would get in touch with me, either by phone or email.” Unfortunately, as of this hour, no one has done so.
Therefore, I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide the name and contact details of a Gemalto representative who can address some questions about the issues raised above, namely:
1- Did Gemalto de México, represented by Mr. Arnaud Jean Loic and Martin Djunte Ghomsi, sign a contract with ALBET?
2- If so, what due diligence did Gemalto de México conduct regarding whether ALBET had the authority to enter into contracts for the provision of identity documents to the Venezuelan government?
3- If it did, how much has Gemalto de México received to date (in USD), according to contractual clauses?
4- If it did, what has Gemalto de México delivered according to contractual clauses?
Sincerely,
alek boyd
UPDATE, August 2, 2011: a comment from Rodrigo has pointed me in the direction of what he defines as a common practice: that is, European companies paying bribes to officials through dubious intermediaries. That might be the reason Gemalto did not sign a contract directly with the Chávez regime. Rodrigo cites three Panamanian companies (Billingsley Global Corporation, Ferdell Business Inc., and Selbor International Inc.) involved in some unexplained payments in a €46 million agreement with the German Bundesdruckerei for Venezuela (reported here by undefined German media). Ferdell and Selbor share the same directors (Thays Herrera de Salas, Mariela de Cristi, and Eligio Rodríguez).
But that’s not the issue. Gemalto’s ADRs are traded in the U.S. and its shares are also traded on the Paris stock exchange. Perhaps it’s time to whistleblower to the American and European authorities?