Maritza Manturano, the chief adviser to Peru's Defence Minister Rafael Belaunde, is being investigated by prosecutors over an alleged ghost-worker racket at municipal agency EMILIMA.
The Public Prosecutor's Office considers Manturano the alleged leader of a criminal organisation that drained municipal coffers through 22 fraudulent service contracts during her time as general manager of the agency, according to an investigative report aired by Peruvian television programme Cuarto Poder.
Manturano faces a formal inquiry for alleged criminal organisation and aggravated collusion. The allegations relate to her tenure heading the Empresa Municipal Inmobiliaria de Lima, the municipal real estate corporation known as EMILIMA, where she took office as general manager in 2019.
EMILIMA operates as a municipal enterprise under the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, tasked with managing urban real estate, historic city-centre properties and municipal commercial assets. Aggravated collusion charges in Peru apply when public officials are accused of conspiring with third parties to defraud state agencies, carrying substantial prison sentences under the penal code.
Fiscal documents revealed in the television broadcast show that the municipal firm paid out public money for 22 service contracts where the contracted tasks were never carried out. Under Peruvian administrative rules, public bodies frequently hire locadores de servicios, freelance contractors working under civil contracts rather than formal payrolls, to carry out specific technical duties. Prosecutors allege that the EMILIMA contracts were fabricated specifically to obtain public funds for work that was never performed.
Secret recordings and ghost contracts
The prosecutor's case is supported by audio recordings submitted by individuals seeking legal benefits as aspiring cooperating witnesses. Peru's legal framework allows suspects to offer testimony and evidence to the Public Prosecutor's Office as colaboradores eficaces in exchange for reduced sentences or immunity. In one of the recordings obtained by prosecutors, Manturano allegedly coordinated with fellow suspects to decide what answers they should give when questioned by investigators.
Another participant in the recorded conversations stated that he had never carried out the duties for which he was hired, though he noted that he had been given specific guidance on what information to provide during official proceedings.
One of the cases detailed by Cuarto Poder involves Cinthya Daphnne Cavero Gonzáles, who secured an independent service contract with EMILIMA despite having no prior experience as a state supplier. According to the prosecution theory, Cavero received public payments for work she never performed and subsequently handed the cash over to Yazmín Sevilla Nieto.
Sevilla then allegedly forwarded the money directly to Manturano. A recorded phone call between Cavero and Sevilla captured the two women discussing how to justify the arrangement to prosecutors and ensure that their statements did not link the payments back to the former general manager.
Meeting to prepare prosecutor statements
Prosecutors also obtained an audio recording of a meeting held on 5 November 2023, by which time fiscal proceedings into the municipal agency were already actively under way. During that discussion, Manturano reportedly told attendees that they should respond to questions with precision and avoid offering any supplementary details to investigators.
The prosecution findings indicate that Manturano also offered to draft question-and-answer preparation documents so that the investigated individuals could study them and use them as guides during their official depositions with prosecutors.
In the same conversation, contractor Fernando Rojas Barrera stated that he had performed none of the tasks for which he was contracted. Rojas stated that his actual role had been limited to assisting Andrés Diez Tochiki with the issuance of service receipts to draw payments from the municipal entity.
Defence ministry appointment and political ties
Despite the criminal inquiry into her conduct at EMILIMA, Rafael Belaunde appointed Manturano as head of his cabinet of advisers at the Ministry of Defence. The post places her at the head of the ministerial advisory team supporting the defence minister, who oversees national security policy and the armed forces from the ministry headquarters in Lima.
The connection between Manturano and Belaunde also includes private business interests. Corporate filings show that Manturano was registered as an authorised legal proxy for four commercial companies associated with the minister.
Manturano was also involved in the electoral campaign for Libertad Popular, the political party founded and led by Belaunde. She took part in internal party organisation and public events promoting the political platform during its national campaign activities.
Defence arguments and family investigation
Roberto Robles, the defence lawyer representing Manturano, rejected the allegations against his client, maintaining that she had merely authorised payment orders based on administrative files presented to her that reported the tasks had been completed.
Robles questioned the reliability and legal validity of the audio recordings, noting that no official phonetic testing had been conducted to prove that the voices on the files belonged to his client or the other suspects. He stated that Manturano would exercise her right to remain silent if the Public Prosecutor's Office summoned her to testify.
The fiscal investigation also extends to Manturano's immediate family. Prosecutors have formally included her husband, Pedro Gamio Felipa, in the inquiry regarding his alleged involvement in the contracting of one of the service providers at EMILIMA.
