WASHINGTON, October 6, 2017 — The World Bank Group announced the debarment of UPL Environmental Engineers Limited (UPLEEL) and its parent company, Tatva Global Environment Pvt. Ltd. (Tatva). UPLEEL will be debarred for 18 months with conditional release. Tatva will be debarred for 11 months, followed by a conditional non-debarment period of 7 months.
A World Bank investigation revealed evidence of a fraudulent practice whereby the companies misrepresented UPLEEL’s intended role in a Bank-financed contract under the Danang Sustainable City Development Project in Vietnam.
Earlier this quarter, the World Bank also debarred Coronado Ingenieros S.A. (Coronado); its founder Mr. Jose Benigno Coronado Mendez (Mr. Coronado); and Coronado’s legal representative, Ms. Ruth Eli Cuarezma Fuentes (Ms. Cuarezma) for 34 months for corrupt and fraudulent misconduct under the World Bank-financed Hurricane Felix Emergency Recovery Project in Nicaragua. The sanction follows acknowledgment of illicit payments made by the debarred entities during the bidding process to secure World Bank-financed contracts. In addition, Coronado, Mr. Coronado, and Ms. Cuarezma also falsified bid-opening documents, failed to disclose a subcontractor, and submitted fraudulent financial statements and payment requests.
The sanctions are part of Negotiated Resolution Agreements under which the debarred entities commit to implementing an integrity compliance program that is consistent with the principles set out in the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Guidelines, as well as to cooperating with the World Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency.
These sanctions also qualify for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions that was signed on April 9, 2010.
