The Individual Respondent (“Respondent”) was a consultant in the Employment Support Program (“Program”). The Office of Institutional Integrity (“OII”) submitted a Statement of Charges and Evidence against the Respondent for allegedly engaging in fraudulent and corrupt practices related to the Program. OII accused the Respondent of submitting false pension contribution receipts to appear compliant with the consulting contracts and receive his professional fees. OII also accused the Respondent of requesting and receiving money in exchange for unduly influencing public officials, taking advantage of his position as a consultant. Consequently, and per the Sanctions Procedures, the Sanctions Officer (“SO”) issued a Notice of Administrative Action (“Notice”) to the Respondent. The Respondent did not submit a Response to the Notice.

The SO determined that it was more likely than not that the Respondent engaged in fraudulent and corrupt practices. As a result, the SO imposed a debarment sanction for six (6) years. The Respondent will be ineligible to participate or be awarded contracts in projects or activities financed by the Bank Group during that time. The SO considered the misuse of authority and perception of connections with the government derived from the Respondent´s functions as aggravating circumstances. The SO also noted the limited impact of the Respondent’s conduct on the Program as a mitigating circumstance.

In accordance with the Sanctions Procedures, the sanction imposed entered into force immediately, and the Bank provided notice of this declaration of ineligibility to the other Multilateral Development Banks that are a party to the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions.