The investigation of a firm that operates in Vaca Muerta for overbilling of USD 232 million advances

Within the framework of a complaint filed by Customs, the Federal Justice raided brokerage firms after detecting that NRG Argentina -a firm that operates in Vaca Muerta- overinvoiced imports of capital goods for USD 232 million between January 2019 and June 2019. 2022 to then re-enter these currencies into the country through the financial market.

According to Customs sources, the supposed objective of the company was the entry of equipment for the assembly and start-up of a plant to produce silica sands, a key input for companies in the hydrocarbons sector that carry out gas production and unconventional oil in the Vaca Muerta area.

As a result, last Tuesday, March 14, specialized Customs agents and Gendarmerie personnel carried out different searches ordered by the National Economic Criminal Judge No. 2, in charge of Pablo Yadarola.

One of the main addresses raided was that of Allaria Ledesma, a well-known Clearing and Settlement Agent (ALyC) company that operates in the local market.

The cause is based on the possible money laundering through a triangulation of currencies that in principle was destined for the import of capital goods, whose inconsistency was detected through the contribution of information exchange implemented by Customs.

At the beginning of the investigation, what caught the attention of Customs was that the high amount involved showed “substantial differences” with the values ​​declared by the NRG firm, which had obtained benefits contemplated by the Mining Law.

The main foreign supplier was a firm based in the United States, registered as Marull Heavy Equipment LLC, whose only client was the Argentine company NRG. However, the finding by Customs was that Oscar Güercio, a shareholder of NRG Argentina SA, was in turn a proxy in the account that Marull managed in an American bank.

“From that account, around USD 37 million entered the country through an ALyC Allaria account to be later settled in Cash with Liquidation (CCL). In addition, as a result of the investigation, Customs detected that Guercio and Marull were partners in a third company called MARDG,” they explained.

This maneuver could be confirmed as a result of the information exchange agreement (TIR) ​​that allowed obtaining the necessary information to know both the final destination of the funds and the coincidences in who integrated and participated in the different companies. The investigation of the case has the intervention of the economic criminal No. 2 and the Federal Court of Campana.

The company NRG Argentina offers the oil and gas industry strategic inputs: natural sand and ultra-light synthetic agent; In addition, they offer last mile and location management services.

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