Lawyers uniting companies in B410 case

The first time the name of attorney David Francisco Barrera Maldonado appeared in relevance was on July 31, 2019.

That day, one of the companies he founded and represents, Corporación Klondike, Sociedad Anónima, submitted an offer in a tender to build, install and operate five photovoltaic solar parks for the National Institute of Electrification, with a capacity of 110 MW (Inde), with an investment of more than US$110 million.

Corporación Klondike, SA represented the offer of the Norwegian company Scatec Solar. Through their lawyer and new representative Mario René Beltrán Hernández, they used the company to participate in the Inde tender, which was ultimately cancelled by the authorities of the institute due to multiple corruption charges. After the failure of the tender, Corporación Klondike was liquidated and closed in July 2022, according to documents from the Commercial Registry.

The second time David Barrera gained national and international attention, his name wasn’t mentioned.

Last Wednesday, Marco Livio Díaz, head of the General Tax Administration (SAT), said Condemned the existence of 410 corporate structures Preliminary estimates show that they will defraud the state of more than 300 million quetzales in taxes from 2021 to 2023, but the total amount defrauded may exceed 800 million quetzales.

Due to the number of companies involved in the network, Diaz dubbed the case “B410,” with the “B” referring to the Banvi II neighborhood, where more than half of the companies are located.

According to data presented at the meeting, 75% of the companies were set up by the same notary, and about 239 of them reported their address as 33 Calle C 10-16, zone 7, Colonia Banvi II, a red zone that when investigators visited the area, the SAT found it did not exist. Video surveillance cameras were installed in the alley, and they also encountered security guards who prevented them from entering the place.

(Related pzp1)

Representing at least 410 companies

Although the superintendent did not mention the lawyer’s name, With EPInvest It was revealed that the hidden name was attorney David Francisco Barrera Maldonado.

Companies in the B410 network reported sales of 5.7 billion quetzales between 2021 and 2023, and from January to June 2024 they invoiced sales of 714 million quetzales.

According to data from the Commercial Registry, from 2004 to date, Barrera Maldonado has held the positions of manager or sole administrator and legal representative in 509 companies; however, only 62 of these appointments are still valid, while the rest have been revoked.

According to data from the national procurement portal Guatecompras, when comparing this list with the names revealed by the head of the SAT, nine companies in the B410 group have sold more than 82 million quetzales directly to public entities. These companies are: Grupo Basado, Grupo Propela, Inversiones Caddie, Inversiones Humedales, Consorcio Las Mallorcas, Commerce Madness, Kaizen Inc, Megalodon and Calakmul.

The scheme revealed showed that the two companies, despite lacking assets, invoiced a total of 64 million quetzales. According to the responsible persons, part of the funds were transferred to an offshore company in Belize.

Who is the lawyer?

The story behind David Francisco Varela Maldonado is unclear; his birth certificate shows that he was born in Guatemala City on March 11, 1984. He spent his childhood between the Amparo and Besanilla neighborhoods in District 7, near the Banvi II neighborhood.

Barrera graduated as a lawyer and notary from Leonardo da Vinci University in 2017. He has been practicing law since 2004 and has a Master’s degree in Business Law and Competitiveness at the University of San Carlos.

SA Barrera Maldonado describes itself on its company website, Kobuk, as a “visionary” committed to creating value for customers, employees and communities through responsible and sustainable business practices.

Additionally, it notes on its LinkedIn profile that it provides consulting and advisory services across all legal sectors and “uses electronic and human translation to communicate and inform in all languages ​​on earth.”

(frasepzp1)

Public Square He tried to contact Barrera Maldonado through numbers registered to different companies, but he had not responded by the end of this period. If you respond to the interview request, this report will be updated.

But Barrera Maldonado, an admirer of French novelists Albert Camus and Honoré de Balzac, did not act alone, judging by the name he gave to his company, a network of 410 companies, 75% of which were established by notary José Luis Oropín Mollinedo, with whom he shares an office.

Olopin Molinedo worked at the Ministry of Public Health from 2012 to 2018 and graduated as a lawyer and notary in 2018. In 2019, he was the Viva Viva party’s candidate for acting councillor of Guatemala City.

Barrera Maldonado and Oropín Mollinedo worked together: Oropín was the notary who created the company and Barrera Maldonado was the founding partner and legal representative. Between 2018 and 2024, they created more than 500 public limited companies, selling them to clients who needed them for their business, including well-known businessmen and other law firms.