THE

BUSINESS OF
DEFORESTATION
A land trafficking case in the Peruvian Amazon for
large-scale palm oil production of the Melka group
involving former officials of the Ucayali regional
government investigated for corruption offenses
PROÉTICA Consejo Nacional para la Ética Pública
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Journalistic Investigation: Aramís Castro Ramos (Convoca)

Edition: Magaly Avila (Proética) / Milagros Salazar Herrera (Convoca)
Design: Manu Mercado/Dupla: facebook.com/habladupla

Con el apoyo del Ministerio Federal de Medio Ambiente, Protección de la

Naturaleza, Construcción y Seguridad Nuclear de Alemania.
THE
BUSINESS OF
DEFORESTATION
A land trafficking case in the Peruvian Amazon for
large-scale palm oil production of the Melka group
involving former officials of the Ucayali regional
government investigated for corruption offenses
INDEX
1. In the heart of dead forests
2. The plan of “national interest” and oil palm
2.1 Entrepreneurs from Asia arrive to the Peruvian Amazon
3. The entry of Dennis Melka
4. Access to land
4.1 The game of proof of ownership certificates
4.2 Serial Contracts
5. The officials involved
5.1 Lands of farmers under suspicion
5.2 Purchase of land to the State
5.3 Associated farmers
5.4 The case of Santa Clara de Uchunya
6. Administrative and judicial processes
7. Conclusions
8. Notes
THE
BUSINESS OF
DEFORESTATION

1
 Foto: Aramis Castro

who maintains ties with Malaysian the modus operandi of the people
1. IN THE HEART OF THE investments, a pioneer country in oil and companies involved from the

DEAD FORESTS palm cultivation, where today the land

is increasingly scarce.
countryside to the offices of the sub-
national regional government of Ucayali
and the agencies that investigate the
In the midst of the arrival of case. The investigation reveals how
these investors, residents of local Dennis Melka companies reported for
Ucayali is not only the sub-national
communities and indigenous peoples the deforestation of more than 13 000
region with the most deforested lands of
of the Peruvian Amazon denounce land hectares of forests in an accelerated
the Peruvian Amazon, it is one of Peru’s
usurpation, aggravated damage and climate change scenario were
territories where for years a system of
corruption at the epicenter of Melka’s benefited from one of the main offices
land trafficking has been established
operations, the Loreto and Ucayali of the Regional Sectoral Agriculture
that has facilitated the entrance
sub-national regions. In this report, we Directorate of Ucayali.
of investors of palm oil and cacao
reveal how the foreign entrepreneur’s
projects in zones of primary forests.
companies acquired the lands through The Peruvian government in 2016
One of the most recent cases is the
intermediaries and implemented was committed to manage and
Czech-American businessman Dennis
different strategies in the midst of implement more than USD 316
Nicholas Melka who raised capital in
serious allegations of corruption and million, including donations and loans
Malaysia up to the heart of the Peruvian
land trafficking in the Ucayali region, from international cooperation and
jungle to do business bypassing national
which has the greatest amount of Multilateral Development Bank funds
standards.
deforestation in Peru1. to address climate change challenges
from the main source of Greenhouse
Melka’s financial plan has been
The Prosecutor’s office specializing in Gases Emissions3 : the increasing
launched in the last five years at the
corruption offenses by public officials deforestation and areas of cattle feeding
cost of cutting down forests. More
of Ucayali and the Prosecutor’s office for the expansion of the agricultural
than 13 000 hectares of land has been
specialized in environmental matters, frontier in the Amazon.
acquired by this entrepreneur through
as well as the regional headquarters
the creation of a network of more than
of the Anti-Corruption Attorney’s In parallel, persons that operate from
20 companies with the help of law firms
Office2, have investigated these the State participate in the traffic of
in Peru.
facts and their protagonists: public lands. Corruption at various scales is
officials, land traffickers, front men and intimately related to the access to our
The palm oil projects, which were
representatives of Melka‘s companies. Peruvian Amazon land.
mainly in the hands of Peruvian
capitals, are marked today in the
In this investigation ‘The business of
country by a growing interest of foreign
deforestation’ developed by Convoca,
entrepreneurs such as Dennis Melka,
in alliance with Proética, we trace

2
 Foto: Rainforest Alliance

2. THE PLAN OF “NATIONAL

INTEREST” AND OIL PALM

Large-scale oil palm plantations in the

jungle were promoted by law. In May
2000, Supreme Decree 015-2000-
AG of the Ministry of Agriculture
announced the cultivation of this
monoculture to be of national interest
for the period 2000-2010. The measure
appeared in the same context that
encouraged the approval of the law of
investment in the Amazon.

The purpose of the supreme decree,

according to the researcher Juan Luis
Dammert4 analysis for the Grupo de
Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE),
was to encourage the cultivation of
oil palm as a “strategy to fight against
migratory agriculture.” That is to say,
to promote that the farmers remain in
a determined area and do not deforest
zones that soon they would abandon.

on how this figure was calculated. Also, when talks began with investors from
“The Peruvian over the years, it was found out that important global companies: Kausar

government in 2016 was in many of the areas identified in the

Plan no oil palm plantation had been
Corporation and Sime Darby. The
first company signed an agreement
committed to manage developed; and in areas not included in
the map, projects had been developed
with the Ministry of Agriculture to
associate itself with Peruvian oil palm
and implement more or were planned. The Plan, which had
its future projection until 2010, would
farmers and get access to lands. In
2000, Supreme Decree 015-2000-AG
than USD 316 million” prepare the ground for the investments announced the cultivation of oil palm
that followed in the coming years plantations in Peru to be of national
The decree included the approval of a for various business groups and the interest. The following year, the
National Plan to Promote Oil Palm that entrance of Dennis Melka’s investments Ministry of Agriculture developed a
had among its objectives the cultivation in the Peruvian Amazon. plan to promote the crop that would last
of palm in an area of 50 000 hectares until 2010. In that scenario investors
from Malaysia arrived, country with
for 2010. The goal was close to being
fulfilled. For that year, according to
2.1. Entrepreneurs from which Peru signed an Agreement
the GRADE report, there were about
44 000 hectares of oil palm. By the
Asia arrive to the for the Promotion and Reciprocal
Protection of Investments in 19955.
middle of 2016, the figure had already
surpassed the 77 000 hectares of
Peruvian Amazon The negotiations were led by officials
of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry
cultivated area. themselves and representatives of
the Private Investment Promotion
Despite the optimism in the figures The Peruvian Amazon is considered by Agency (Proinversión). This last
and goals outlined, there were some the palm oil businessmen in the world agency was especially interested in
points in the Plan that had no basis in as an ideal territory for this crop while the subject because since 2007 it had
the future projections made, according for the Peruvian government it became been in charge of the Use of Biofuels
to GRADE study. For example, more a priority to promote this type of Program (PROBIOCOM) and had
than 1.4 million hectares of potential investment by claiming that there was a a group specialized in agricultural
areas for oil palm development were deficit in the production of palm oil. The exploration and associativity that had
estimated, but no indication was given first talks with Malaysian businessmen been identifying lands suitable for the
interested in palm oil go back to 2007 production of agroenergy crops.

3
According to official documents of the Amazon. The best way to guarantee to privileged information regarding the
the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, the this request was to do so through the state of the land in these regions. This
objective of the agreement between the high state authorities, between the entrepreneur is Dennis Nicholas Melka,
Kausar Corporation and the Ministry of national governments of Malaysia and today investigated by the authorities of
Agriculture was to “develop the oil palm Peru6. the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Peru
production chain, transfer technology, for the deforestation of more than 13
secure financing, maintain and operate However, officials from sub-national 000 hectares in Loreto and Ucayali.
real estate, produce palm oil byproducts regional amazon governments, with the Most of it is located in Ucayali: over
and carry out other activities related exception of the San Martín region, put 10,000 hectares for the production of
to the field”. But negotiations with this obstacles to provide information on the oil palm on a large scale.
company were cut short. And it was available lands for oil palm plantations
another company from Malaysia that because they wanted to negotiate Until 2015, the Peruvian Foreign
took its place: Sime Darby Plantations, directly with the companies and make Ministry officials claimed that
one of the world’s palm oil giants in the most of this opportunity for their Melka never knocked the national
search of new lands. regions7. They did not want to stay out government’s doors to access the
of the game and do not get benefits. amazonian land unlike other Malaysian
In Peru, there are more than 77 527 Under these conditions, the negotiation companies. However, in 2014 a new
hectares of oil palm, according to the with Sime Darby Plantations were also name began to emerge at the Public
National Association of Palm farmers cut short. Prosecutor’s Office: Felda Global
(Junpalma). Most of the crops, 39%, Ventures Holdings, one of the world’s
are found in the San Martin region largest palm oil companies accused of
(mainly in the province of Tocache),
38% in Ucayali, 18% in Loreto and only
“The first talks with deforestation in Malaysia. In August
2014, the digital media specializing in
5% in Huánuco. The largest plantations
belong to national companies of
Malaysian businessmen investments sharesinv.com said that
among Felda’s expansion plans was
the Romero Group: Palmas del interested in palm oil go Peru. In its 2015 annual report8, Felda
Espino and Palmas de Shanushi. The
presence of foreign investors could back to 2007” reported Asian Plantations Limited as
part of its conglomerate of companies,
reshape the outlook. That is why the which has Melka as one of its founders.
Peruvian Foreign Ministry asked the While this was happening in the Financial movements of investors in
sub-national regional governments national government, the operations palm oil are connected. The lands of
of Loreto, Ucayali, San Martin and of another businessman of American the Amazon are the most desired and
Huánuco to establish in which areas origin and with Czech nationality had behind it a game of interests and land
of their territory oil palm cultivation already taken root in the Amazon as a dispossession of the most vulnerable
was possible because the company result of a direct negotiation with the with the endorsement of some State
requested the government to have sub-national regional governments of officials is fabricated.
access to 100 000 hectares of land in Loreto and Ucayali and having access

4
 FORMS OF LAND ACQUISITION IN TH
The strategies used by cocoa and palm oil entre
aroused suspicions and have been damaging to

DIRECT PURCHASE FROM PRIVATE

INDIVIDUALS (3,000 HECTARES)
The company acquired land through serial contracts.
There have also been cases in which people sold their
plots to the company after having obtained proof of
ownership certificates from the Regional Agriculture
Directorate in Ucayali.

PURCHASE FROM THE STATE

(4,759 HECTARES)
The company acquired lands based on the Law of
National Assets through the Regional Agriculture
Directorate in Ucayali. The lands were then used to
grow oil palm.

PURCHASE FROM A FARMERS

ASSOCIATION (5,000 HECTARES)
The company bought land at low cost from small
farmers' associations. In some cases, the land was
sold at an average of 100 soles per hectare.
HE PERUVIAN AMAZON
epreneurs to acquire lands, which have
o a group of farmers who lost their lands.
 The RSPO is a global organization had given the land free of charge to
3. THE ENTRY OF DENNIS that brings together institutions these farmers as part of a demagogic

MELKA interested in the palm oil sector and

certifies that the production and trade
agricultural development policy. Due
to the extension of the properties, the
of this product is sustainable and beneficiaries had only managed to
respectful of human rights.Therefore, work part of them. Melka’s emissaries
the order of this organization was soon negotiated with the landowners.
Dennis Melka started operations in 2010 given in response to the complaint In a few weeks Cacao del Norte,
after having founded two years prior Asian of the Santa Clara de Uchunya Melka’s company, obtained about 3
Plantations, a palm oil company in Asia. community that said that Melka’s 000 hectares in Tamshiyacu, Loreto.
The Singapore-based company has more company was planting palm on their The problem was that much of the
than 20 000 hectares of crops in Sarawak, ancestral lands10. In November 2016, land was covered with trees that
Malaysia, where the company acquired the company withdrew from the eventually disappeared to sow oil
land at low price from settlers, which in RSPO11. palm or cacao. Without obtaining any
some cases Malaysian authorities granted permission from the authorities, trees
concession later “without any tedious This departure came after a succession like Cedrelinga, Garapa, Virola and
bidding process”, according to a May 2013 of contested facts not only in Ucayali Maytenus laevis were cutted down,
report from the Sarawak Report portal9. but also in Loreto. In early 2013, according to a report of damage done
In this controversial story appears the Melka and its operators began to buy in October 2013 by the engineer Ezra
figure of Leonard Linggi, a Malaysian land from farmers at low costs. They Noriega from the Regional Program
politician who was a member of the Asian arrived to an organization known as of Management of Forest and Wildlife
Plantations directory, where Dennis “The buffaloes” in the Loreto region, Resources of Maynas. The forest lost
Melka is co-founder and CEO. which grouped 45 farmers and around 2 000 hectares.
ranchers who owned 49.7 hectares of
As we will see, the way of operating in land and ended up selling it for 5 000 In order to gain access to the lands
Malaysia was repeated in the Peruvian soles (about 1 800 dollars at the time). in Ucayali, Melka managed to weave
territory. One hundred soles each hectare (37 links with officials of the sub-national
dollars). regional government that today are
To get access to the lands of the investigated by the authorities of the
Amazon, Dennis Melka created a group “They told me that if I did not sell my Public Prosecutor’s Office and the
of 25 companies with the help of law land, the State would take it away from Anti-Corruption Attorney’s Office.
firms. All registered in the National me. Why? Because I have not planted Among them is the engineer Miguel
Superintendency of Public Registries all the hectares they gave me. Since I Angel Seijas del Castillo, then in
(SUNARP) as companies dedicated to did not have much understanding of charge of the Regional Directorate of
the cultivation of oil palm or cacao. In the the subject and I was afraid, I accepted Agriculture of Ucayali, who evaluated
early years only three appeared as active. the 5 000 soles. Then I looked for Dennis Melka’s Plantaciones Ucayali
advice and I realized it was a hoax: the proposal to plant oil palm in large
However, companies’ activities grew: up government can not take your land for scale in the village of Bajo Rayal
to February 2016 there were 16 in full not cultivating it in its entirety”, said in the district of Nueva Requena.
activity. Those with the most presence farmer Walter Muñoz Quiroz for the Seijas argued that it was necessary to
were Cacao del Peru Norte SAC, with a publication “Amazonía Arrasada”12. promote alternative crops to the coca
cacao plantation in Tamshiyacu, Loreto, leaf in the region. This justification
and companies with oil palm projects Alberto Fujimori’s government was not accidental.
in Ucayali: Plantaciones Ucayali SAC,
which in the fortnight of May 2016
changed its name to Ocho Sur U SAC, and
Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC, which also
changed its name to Ocho Sur P SAC.

It is not the first time Melka companies

change their name to operate in the
Peruvian Amazon. This time, the
modification occurred a few days after, at
the end of April 2016, the Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) ordered to
stop the development of new plantations
until Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC can
demonstrate that it has not cleared forests
in Peru.

7
Foto: Sandra Gutiérrez
 Foto: Mario Osava/IPS

Melka was a consultant to the United In May 2012, Alfredo Rivera Loarte, entry in the public registry.
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime then representative of the United Melka’s land allocation applications to
(UNODC) in 2013, according to an Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the sub-national regional government
e-mail from Roberto Arbitrio, executive (UNODC) in Tocache, became a bank of Loreto also mention that among
director of this institution13, dated agent and partner of Melka’s company, the benefits of its investments is the
July 17, 2016. This communication, Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur establishment of the first palm oil
revealed in the documentary “Nuestro cooperative in Iquitos, for which it is
Hombre en Coca-landia” by the
German television station WDR “Fujimori had given them proposed “to work closely with the
United Nations”.
(WestDeutscher RundFunk), would
reveal that Melka was able to take
land free of charge as “We work with the communities of
advantage of the information he
accessed at UNODC to do business in
part of a demagogic Caynarachi or Yurimaguas, which have
been successful. It is no longer our
the Peruvian Amazon. UNODC has agricultural development responsibility what the consultants do
as one of its objectives to work with
small farmers planting oil palm to policy” once they end their relationship with
us”, the UNODC Communications
replace coca leaf plantations in already Office pointed out in reference to
deforested places. But in this case, the U SAC). From this position he could the case of Rivera Loarte, one of
companies of Melka got access to land have up to USD 10 000 of the funds Melka’s operators, as mentioned in the
to cut down trees14. of the company available only with a publication of Convoca, “Amazonia
signature according to the company’s arrasada”.

8
 Foto: John Bevan

of projects to address the problem, certificates of land ownership were

4. ACCESS TO LAND despite international commitments granted, according to figures from
such as the Paris Agreement and the Regional Sectoral Agriculture
REDD+ projects financed by the Forest Directorate of Ucayali (DRAU)17. In
Investment Program (FIP), the Forest those years, the DRAU was in charge
Ucayali is the amazon region that Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of Miguel Seijas del Castillo and Celia
concentrates the largest amount or the Joint Declaration of Intent with Prado Seijas. Within this office of the
of permanent production forests Norway and Germany. regional government of Ucayali, the
deforested in Peru. Since the middle Directorate for the Physical and Legal
of the last decade, areas destined to oil In this scenario, Dennis Melka and Regularization of Agricultural Property
palm have increased. In 2006, Ucayali his operators managed to implement approved the granting of proof of
recorded 6 641 hectares of oil palm various strategies to access the lands ownership certificates that had to be
cultivation and in 2012 it shot up to of the Amazon, to clear forests and given to people who showed that they
17 000 hectares, according to figures replace them with oil palm and cacao had worked the land. The management
from the agrarian agencies of Tocache, plantations. Ucayali was the epicenter. of the DRAU had hundreds of requests
Aguaytía, Pucallpa and Yurimaguas15. Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho for proof of ownership certificates in
At the same time that this crop Sur U S.A.C.) and Plantaciones de its office18, but the office responsible
expanded in the region, there were also Pucallpa S.A.C. (now Ocho Sur P SAC) for approving these requests was the
more than 10 000 hectares deforested accessed to more than 13 000 hectares Directorate of Physical and Legal
by oil palm production between 2010 using three ways until the end of 2014: Regularization which was in charge of
and 2014. Such an impact is also direct purchase from private individuals Luis Pasquel Quevedo (2011 - 2013)
evident in the regions of Loreto and San (about 3 000 hectares), purchase and then José Crespín Sempértegui
Martin, at a time in which the Peruvian of the State land (4 759 hectares) (2013 - 2014).
State should prioritize the protection and purchase of land to a farmers’
of forests that are vital for carbon association (5 000 hectares). Let’s see From 2015 until July 2016, with the
sequestration. what happened in each case and which new director of the Regional Sectoral
officials are involved. Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali
According to an analysis published (DRAU), Isaac Huamán Pérez, the
by Proética16, up to mid-2016, more amount of granted certificates was
than USD 316 million in international
4.1 The game of proof of
declining but the conflicts inherited
funding was recorded to preserve forests from previous governments remained.
and tackle climate change. Among the
components considered for investment ownership certificates In several cases, the lands given through
these certificates, overlap farmers’ lands
are the titling and management of or comuneros’ territory. This happened
native lands; early warnings to curb with the native community Nuevo
deforestation, indigenous forest In Ucayali, while the expansion of oil
Paraíso19, which was granted title to
management, monitoring of forest cover palm plantations was taking place,
their lands in 1998 and then in March
with a participatory approach, among the amount of land given to private
2016, an individual title was registered
others. Deforestation is proceeding individuals also skyrocketed. In the
on behalf of another beneficiary within
fast and parallel to the implementation 2011 - 2014 period, more than 3 500
Nuevo Paraíso.

9
The grant of a proof of ownership In Bajo Rayal, there are a dozen farmers The questioned plan in which this
certificate allows a private individual who are facing Ocho Sur U SAC, former inspection is registered was filed on
to acquire land from the State that he Plantaciones de Ucayali, for the 1 000 July 24, 2013, just one day before
can use and then obtain the title of the hectares of land they possessed until Pasquel left the post of director of the
property. The path to request a proof of 2013. The following year, in June Directorate for Physical and Legal
ownership certificate begins and ends 2014 , their certificates were suddenly Regularization of Agricultural Property
at the Regional Sectoral Agriculture canceled to be granted irregularly21, of Ucayali. As we shall see below, the
Directorate of Ucayali (DRAU) and the in proven cases by the authorities procedure was marked by various
responsible to approve this document of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in irregularities.
is the Directorate for the Physical and Ucayali (detailed in case No. 2014-70-
Legal Regularization of Agricultural 0), to third parties who subsequently The technician Garaycochea assured
Property of Ucayali that belongs to the sold to Melka’s company, then called the Prosecutor’s Office that the
DRAU. To get access to this certificate, Plantaciones de Ucayali SAC22. inspection was done without the
which is renewed annually, the presence of the people who requested
interested party should request the visit According to the inquiries of the it because he wanted to “keep his job”.
of a technician to make a report in the Office of the Corporative Provincial Among the supposed beneficiaries of
field that will subsequently be evaluated Prosecutor of Ucayali Specializing in the proof of ownership certificates as
in the DRAU where it will be resolved if Corruption Offences by Public Officials, a result of this irregular procedure,
the request proceeds or if there will be field technician Carlos Garaycochea appear the settlers Carlos Ramírez and
observations to it. “would have recognized that the ocular Hugo Macuyama.
inspection reports of August 2013”
From the initial request to the for the irregular grant of proof of Convoca talked with Carlos Ramírez
publication of the certificate‘s ownership certificates to people linked at his home - a humble dwelling of a
resolution it can take between 15 to 30 to Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho human settlement in Yarinacocha -
days. The visit made by the technician Sur U SAC), were made following the district in Ucayali. The villager said he
is a fundamental part of the process20. “insistence” of engineer Luis Armando did not know how his signature arrived
After the decision is made, citizens who Pasquel Quevedo, who was in charge of at the request for proof of ownership
do not agree with the results can appeal the Directorate for Physical and Legal certificate or the inspection report
to the DRAU and after that the waiting Regularization of Agricultural Property, made by the engineer Garaycochea.
time is another 20 days. that depended of the Regional Sectoral This statement is the same one he gave
Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali to the Prosecutor’s Office in which he
Although hundreds of people have (DRAU) headed by Celia Prado Seijas, even indicated that his signature was
benefited from this modality to acquire also investigated by the Office of the false.
land, there are also people who claim Prosecutor of Ucayali Specializing in
to have lost possession of their land Corruption Offences by Public Officials. So, who was behind this transaction?,
because of mismanagement by DRAU the various documents that are part
officials to favor third parties. In the In September 2014, Pasquel Quevedo of the 2014-70-0 tax investigation
list of beneficiaries are the Melka testified before the Prosecutor’s Office reveal that the person who obtained the
companies: Plantaciones de Ucayali of Ucayali that the inspection made certificates of the lands in which appear
(now Ocho Sur U S.A.C), Plantaciones by the engineer Garaycochea was the names of Carlos Ramírez and Hugo
de Pucallpa SAC (now Ocho Sur P carried out when he was no longer in Macuyama is Javier Bartra, the brother-
S.A.C.) and natural persons who later the position. However, what he did not in-law of Alfredo Rivera Loarte, then
sold their lands to Melka companies. mention in his account was that while manager of Plantaciones de Ucayali
he was in charge of the Directorate (now Ocho Sur U SAC) who has been
Precisely one of the three modalities of for Physical and Legal Regularization fundamental for the acquisition of lands
the companies of the Czech-American he received the work plan that in favor of Melka in this region of the
entrepreneur to get access to the lands Garaycochea carried out in early August Amazon. The lands have passed from
was through the purchase of proof of 2013 as it appears in the accessed hand to hand amid denunciations of
ownership certificates or land titles to documents for this research. fabricated documents.
individuals. Under this method, Melka
companies managed to acquire about As part of the work plan, there was According to the inquiries of the Public
3 000 hectares, of which a thousand the questioned eye inspection that Prosecutor’s Office, Javier Bartra (the
correspond to the village of Bajo Rayal, Garaycochea had planned in the village brother-in-law of Rivera Loarte, a man
located in the district of Coronel of Bajo Rayal, an area that has been close to Melka) was able to sell the
Portillo in the Ucayali region, two and a in conflict to date due to the alleged land to Plantaciones de Ucayali thanks
half hours from the city of Pucallpa, the favoring of Dennis Melka’s Plantaciones to a “power of attorney”. However,
capital of the sub-national region. de Ucayali in the granting of land to the villagers deny having signed that
third parties who later sold their plots to document.
the company.

10
But these are not the only irregularities. give them to the company of Melka. August 1st of 2013. The technician
Among the settlers who allegedly lived The purchase of the lots was also made Garaycochea, who was in charge of
in Bajo Rayal and obtained proof of for very different amounts. Joysi Chávez the supervision, said that the manager
ownership certificates that were later and Rosaura Yimachi, who sold their of the then company, Alfredo Rivera
seized by Dennis Melka’s company, land and who were interviewed for Loarte, participated in the field visit
we can find persons established in this report said they did not remember from a white car. But Rivera Loarte
other regions of the country like Sonia how much money they received from denied it in front of the prosecutor
Amasifuen Clariano of Lima and the Melka company, handed over the despite the evidence of the company’s
Edward Villegas Reyes of the region La certificates in favor of Plantaciones clear participation in these operations.
Libertad. These cases raise suspicions
because the law requires that a person
who requests and subsequently receives “The documents, the The documents, the account of the
villagers who claimed that their
a proof of ownership certificate must
have proved that he has worked the land
account of the villagers signatures were falsified and the
series of irregularities detected in the
in the area. who claimed that process of the purchase of the lands
were not enough to move forward the
The review and analysis of the their signatures were investigations of the Public Prosecutor’s
documents as well as the interviews
carried out for this report also allowed falsified and the series Office: the prosecutor investigation
was closed in February of 2017. In
to know that at least nine people who
requested the irregular field visit in
of irregularities detected the conclusions of the case, signed by
prosecutor Percy Panduro Rengifo,
charge of Garaycochea to obtain the
proof of ownership certificates of the
in the process of the it was indicated that there were no
“indications” that showed that the
lands, handed over the certificates
of these lots of Bajo Rayal through
purchase of the lands ex-officials involved “abused their
position” to “grant privilege to the
notarized letter to Jose Renzo Puyen, were not enough” company Plantaciones de Ucayali
lawyer of Plantaciones de Ucayali, the SAC”. The Public Prosecutor’s Office
company of Dennis Melka. also concluded that it was not “possible
de Ucayali for 33 200 soles and 23 to determine what the complainants
The process was done in a short time. 544 soles respectively, as stated in the claimed” since it was not possible to
The proof of ownership certificates was notary’s office where the transaction consider only “speculation of what
given to these people on October 11, was made. was manifested” but that there had to
2013 and on November 7, in less than be “objective and convincing material
a month, the certificates of these lands In the work plan of the ocular evidence”. The former officials’
ended up in the hands of Plantaciones inspection for the granting of the proof charges were for crimes against the
de Ucayali SAC. These people instead of ownership certificates in favor of public administration, in the modality
of starting to work the lands that the the villagers, who later sold the lands of concussion, illegal sponsorship,
Regional Agriculture Directorate of to the company of Melka, also appears incompatible negotiation or improper
Ucayali granted them, they preferred to a visit to Plantaciones de Ucayali on use of the position.

Foto: John Hughes

 The lands were acquired in the midst of Corruption of Ucayali Officials. Prado
4.2. Serial Contracts a conflict with the settlers. Seijas is accused of taking advantage
of her post. The case, registered with
The former governor of the Bajo the fiscal folder number 193-2015 and
Rayal village and now affected by the with the preliminary investigation
The lands that ended up in the hands of cancellation of his proof of ownership phase already completed, was sent to
the companies of Dennis Melka were certificate, Emerson Ponce Claudio, the Second Office of the Corporative
acquired under different modalities. questions the activities of Plantaciones Provincial Prosecutor of Ucayali
In addition to the aforementioned de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U SAC): Specializing in Corruption Offences by
properties, in the small Zanja “The company comes with security and Public Officials as Convoca was able to
Seca village, other properties were tells us we can not work in our farm know after consulting various sources of
purchased, as the then Manager of because it is part of a legal process, but the Prosecutor’s Office of Ucayali.
Plantaciones de Ucayali, Alfredo Rivera two or three days pass and they are
Loarte, admitted in a statement in front planting oil palm in the place”, he says. This investigation also includes Miguel
of the First Public Prosecutor’s Office Ronald Dávila Henderson, former
Specialized in Environmental Matters official of the Regional Agriculture
of the Judicial District of Ucayali23, Directorate and husband of Cecilia
which was held in October 2013.
5. The officials involved Seijas Prado. A third former official
investigated in this case is José Daniel
In this statement, Rivera Loarte Crespin Sempertegui, also of the
acknowledged that there were some Regional Agriculture Directorate.
landowners adjoining Zanja Seca
who denounced the company but that Another case in which Celia Prado
Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho 5.1. Lands of farmers Seijas was investigated began in May
Sur U SAC) had a hundred cases in
which they had paid for “improvements under suspicion 2014 with the folder number 070-2014.
In this process he is accused of alleged
to owners” and that later “people land trafficking after favoring third
appeared” who claimed “to be the parties and is investigated together
owners”. When being consulted on the with Luis Armando Pasquel Quevedo,
names of the people who sold the lands The authorities involved in the former director of the Directorate for
to the then company Plantaciones de complaints of land trafficking under the Physical and Legal Regularization
Ucayali, Rivera mentioned Teobaldo the modality of purchase of land to of Agricultural Property of the DRAU;
Jesus Vega and Sulma Soto Isuiza. individuals and the proof of ownership Carlos Garaycochea Pérez, the field
The representative of the company certificates are mainly of the Regional technician of this office involved in the
said that he bought 77 and 91 hectares Sectoral Agriculture Directorate of inspection to grant proof of ownership
respectively, as well as “other (hectares) Ucayali. They are accused of benefiting certificates to persons related to the
to an approximate of 100 people [sic]”. the companies of Melka. company; Alfredo Rivera Loarte, legal
representative of Plantaciones de
Convoca got access to this hundred Since the well-known Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U S.A.C.) and
contracts and found - after building a Ucayali and Plantaciones de Pucallpa Javier Bartra Yuimachi, the brother-in-
database - that Plantaciones de Ucayali began their operations in Peru, at the law of Rivera Loarte that sold the lands
bought directly between February and end of 2012, the Regional Sectoral to the company of Melka.
October 2013, more than 990 hectares Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali
for just over 900 000 soles. The lands (DRAU) had as directors Miguel Seijas Until June 2017, the DRAU had
acquired by Plantaciones de Ucayali Del Castillo and Celia Prado Seijas. not resolved the case to respond
ranged from one to 40 hectares in size In that period, 2012-2014, the grant to the farmers’ claim. While in the
and were located in the villages of Bajo of proof of ownership certificates Prosecutor’s Office of Ucayali, the
Rayal and Zanja Seca. skyrocketed and 2 886 were handed process was closed in February 2017.
over. These decisions triggered the
In the contracts the company discourse claim of farmers who accused DRAU
was legalized: it is pointed out that officials of favoring a group of people
these people occupied the area by an with the grant of proof of ownership
“involuntary error”, that they did not certificates, while they were prevented
have right to occupy the zone, nor from accessing this benefit.
interest in claiming their lands and that
they would leave the zone to give it in a As a result, the former director of
“peaceful way”. The payment was made the DRAU, Celia Prado Seijas, was
by Plantaciones de Ucayali, according one of the officers investigated by the
to the documents. First Prosecutor’s Office in Crimes of

12
 REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OF UCAYA
The conflicts between farmers and Melka companies
Jorge Velásquez Portocarrero. He oversees the Regio

Prominent figure: Jorge Velásquez Portocarrero (reg

THE ROUTE TO REGIONAL DIRECTORATE OF

ACQUIRE LANDS IN AGRICULTURE OF UCAYALI (DRAU)
UCAYALI
In the years during which the Melka companies began
2013 mainly, Miguel Seijas del Castillo and Celia Pra
The role of the Regional The path for requests begins and ends at the DRAU.
Directorate of Agriculture of Prominent figures: Miguel Seijas del Castillo (2012-2

favoring Plantaciones de Ucayali SAC and Plantacion

certificates in favor of figures granting them proof of ownership.
linked to companies of the Melka
group.
DIRECTORATE FOR THE PHYSICAL A
REGULARIZATION OF AGRICULTURA

to request the visit of a specialist who would produce

be reviewed to determine if the application was accep
Prominent figures: Luis Pasquel Quevedo (2011-2013
(2013-2014), oversaw the DRAU's Directorate for th

de Ucayali SAC and Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC by

ownership.
ALI
s began during the tenure of
onal Agriculture Directorate

gional governor 2010/2014),

)
n their expansion, 2012 and
ado Seijas oversaw the DRAU.

2013) and Celia Prado Seijas

nes de Pucallpa SAC by

AND LEGAL
AL PROPERTY

a report in the field that would then

pted or disregarded.
3) and José Crespín Sempértegui
he Physical and Legal Regularization

y granting them proof of land

 Foto: Alicia Jo McMahan

The former director of the DRAU, Celia

Prado, stated for this investigation
that “nothing was found” and that
she was not aware of the alleged false
signatures in the process of delivery of
the certificates because in those days
she just began her activities in charge
of the DRAU. Prado also pointed out
- in reference to the role of Pasquel
Quevedo - that she could not put her
“hands in the fire” for former officials
of the DRAU and only responded for
the post that she had. Pasquel Quevedo
was the Director of the Directorate for
the Physical and Legal Regularization
of Agricultural Property that approved
the disputed proof of ownership
certificates. Which were given to people
who indicated that they did not sign any
document.
investigation got access to. and the misuse of agricultural land has
Upon being consulted about the been investigated for the regional ex-
cancellation of the proof of ownership The National Property Law, usually governor of Ucayali, Jorge Velásquez
certificates to the group of farmers used for the sale of buildings, was used Portocarrero; the ex-director of the
from Bajo Rayal, the director of this in this case, arguing that it was a project DRAU, Miguel Seijas Del Castillo
office, Isaac Huaman Perez, responded of regional interest and, consequently, and the regional vice president Carlos
that this happened “because the other national. The installation of palm oil Henderson Lima. The accusation
beneficiary” could have shown more projects is considered of interest for the against Velásquez is due to the approval
ownership rights. As we know, there country. However, the aforementioned of regional executive directorial
were other reasons. rule requires the sale of the good to resolution No. 1207-2012-GRU-PE
be approved through the report of an of November 9, 2012, which approves

5.2 Purchase of land to official of the Ministry of Agriculture

(MINAGRI). In this case, the ministry
the economic feasibility study “for the
sowing of 4759.77 hectares of oil palm”
the State took more time than stated to prepare
the document, and the regional
as it appears in fiscal folder 072-201325.

government applied the rule of positive

administrative silence and preferred
to interpret this delay as the approval
5.3. Associated farmers
At the end of 2012, Plantaciones de
of the project. This way nothing
Ucayali SAC (now Ocho Sur U SAC)
standed in the way of a sale in favor of
acquired a little more than 759 hectares
Plantaciones de Ucayali S.A.C. (Ocho
to the State in the village Zanja Seca. A third modality to access the lands of
Sur U S.A.C.)24.
The purchase was made thanks to the the Amazon was through the purchase
National Property Law through the of 5 000 hectares to an association
Due to the sale of these State lands,
Regional Agriculture Directorate of created by farmers and ranchers. This
engineer Miguel Seijas Del Castillo,
Ucayali that was then headed by Miguel way, the Association of Agricultural
then director of the DRAU, has been
Del Castillo Seijas. These lands were Producers Las Palmeras de Tibecocha
investigated by the Office of the
then destined to oil palm cultivation in gathered small associations that later
Corporative Provincial Prosecutor
the hands of the Melka group. sold their properties to the Melka group.
of Ucayali Specializing in Corruption
The person responsible for selling the
Offences by Public Officials, following
The calculation of the hectares was land to Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC
a complaint filed in early 2013 by
made after the evaluation of an expert (now Ocho Sur P SAC) was Carmen
members of the Pearl Oil Palm
who valorized the land in 343.18 soles Rosa Quispe Bardales, president of the
Farmers Association. They accused
for each of the 1 961 hectares classified association. The first sale was made on
him of having favored Dennis Melka’s
as suitable for permanent cultivation August 16, 2012, when the company
company.
and 113.17 soles for the 2 798 hectares of Melka delivered to the farmers 33
classified as useful for grazing, checks for a value of 118 000 soles, as it
In the Prosecutor’s Office Specialized
according to a report prepared by the appears in the documents Convoca got
in Environmental Matters of Ucayali
Office of Legal Advice of the Regional access to.
the accusation for crimes against forests
Government of Ucayali, document this
13
 area, Antonio Collantes Zegarra, go against international agreements
5.4 The case of Santa acknowledged that “there was a because they affect titling processes of

Clara de Uchunya material error and some proof of

ownership certificates were issued”
ancestral territories, such as the case of
the Santa Clara de Uchunya community
which were later canceled. confronted to Plantaciones de Pucallpa
SAC (now Ocho Sur P SAC)26.
The Director of the DRAU, Isaac
Since late 2015, residents of the Huamán Pérez, has a particular way of Mid-November 2016, community
community of Santa Clara de Uchunya, questioning the request of extension representatives came to Lima to file
located just over two hours from the of the lands presented by the native their lawsuit and demand a solution
city of Pucallpa and on the banks of the community. “If all the communities to the issue. In their complaint they
Aguaytía River, are facing Plantaciones have 1 000, 20 000, 30 000 hectares, included a list of 17 persons who
de Pucallpa SAC (now Ocho Sur P why didn’t they titled 40 years ago?” had been given proof of ownership
SAC). The population, mostly engaged He asked without putting on the certificates of what the community
in fishing and fruit harvesting for table the various obstacles that native considers to be their ancestral
sale, requires the respect and titling communities must face in order to territories. In this list of names, a minor
of more than 20 000 hectares of land obtain their title deeds. of 16 years old even appeared.
considered as ancestral because they
have been recognized as a community “I will not do anything against the right In April 2016, the request to cancel the
since the mid 70’s. Currently, the of the mestizo possessor to benefit the grant of these certificates was declared
community has a little more than 200 indigenous, when in time they have not inadmissible through the Regional
hectares titled. been interested,” added Huamán after Director Resolution 208-2016-GRUP-
stating that he offered to grant 700 DRA and it was approved that the
In the case of Santa Clara de Uchunya hectares to the Santa Clara de Uchunya process should return back to square
the figure of the proof of ownership community but the community did not one and the persons involved can
certificates has again appeared. accept. present themselves and request these
The conflict has increased because certificates again.
territories that the community claims Regarding the alleged use of the lands
as its own, have been granted to at where Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC Isaac Huamán of the Regional
least 17 people and communities who operates (now Ocho Sur P SAC) and Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali said
are working in the area, according to which are claimed by Santa Clara de in December 2016 that this office will
the inquiries of the First Provincial Uchunya, the director of the DRAU not give more territory to the Santa
Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in pointed out in his own way that it is Clara de Uchunya community but will
Environmental Matters of Ucayali. a “half-truth” because the company maintain the decision to grant them an
is implementing in this territory the extension of 750 hectares because, he
In the fiscal folder 122-2015 of this case, Strategic Productive Alliance Program asserts, the other plots do not belong to
the representatives of Plantations of (PAPE), through which the company them.
Pucallpa SAC (now Ocho Sur P SAC), gives a credit to farmers and technical
Walter Alejandro Wutsch, Dennis assistance. In return, they sell their In June 2017, the Ombudsman Office
Melka, Alfredo César Rivera Loarte and crop to the company and with that issued a report28 warning about the
Julio César Rivera Mesa are reported as money they pay the credit. “Isn’t it an conflict in the Santa Clara de Uchunya
well as workers of the company. In this opportunity for them? Or we want them community and considered that the
same folder is included in the complaint to stop doing that and go plant coca. You DRAU should have a land classification
the regional president Manuel Gambini have to think about everything”, said in order to grant land titles and proof
Rupay for the alleged crimes against Isaac Huamán Pérez. of ownership certificates suitable for
natural resources. crops.
In a communiqué dated November
The director of the agronomy agency 4, 2016 and published in Ucayali The report also recommended that the
of Coronel Portillo of the DRAU, newspapers, the company said that Regional Government of Ucayali refrain
Jose Antonio Delgado Inga, said that it is “media manipulation to put the from “granting proof of ownership
they can not give proof of ownership population and authorities against the certificates and titles to third parties, on
certificates of territories of native company”. lands used or occupied by indigenous
communities because they do not have a peoples in an ancestral way”.
document that specifies the extensions The lawyer of the Instituto de Defensa
of the territory of the communities. Legal Juan Carlos Ruiz criticizes the Convoca identified that some names in
granting of territories through the proof the claims of land trafficking in Santa
Another office of the DRAU related of ownership certificates because the Clara de Uchunya also appear in the
to the case is the Native Communities legal support that the DRAU considers case of Bajo Rayal.
Directorate. The official of that to give them does not specify its use and

14
THE NETWORK AND AMAZON LANDS IN UCAYALI Authorities and fig
(now Ocho Sur U S

Jorge Velasquez Portocarrero

Former regional governor of
Ucayali (2011-2014). The
government oversees the
UCAYALI IS THE REGION Regional Sectoral Agriculture
Directorate of Ucayali (DRAU)
WITH THE GREATEST
DEFORESTATION OF
PRODUCTION FORESTS
BEFORE

Miguel Dávila Henderson

Former head of the Forestry and
Wildlife Executive Directorate
of Ucayali (2011-2014),
subordinate to the regional
government. Cecilia Prado
Seijas' husband.
Luis Armando Pasquel Quevedo
Former director of DRAU's
Directorate for physical and legal
regularization of agricultural
property (2011-2013)

THE PROCESS
In 2013, a dozen farmers in the village of In 2014, the Regional Agriculture The DRAU granted proof of ownership
Bajo Rayal had proof of ownership of Directorate of Ucayali, presided over by to third parties in territories that la
nearly 1,000 hectares. Celia Prado Seijas, approved a resolution previously belonged to farmers and d
by which the proof of ownership members of the community, who
certificates granted to the farmers of Bajo have denounced these events.
Rayal were invalidated.
Pr

THE BEGINNING (2013) THE CANCELLATION (2014) THE DELIVERY (2014)

Infographic Orlando Tapia - Convoca.pe

gures who participated in the acquisition of lands in favor of Plantaciones de Ucayali S.A.C.
S.A.C.) and Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C. (now Ocho Sur P S.A.C.)
Manuel Gambini Rupay
Current governor of
Ucayali (2015-2018)

NOW
Jorge Augusto Tijero Tirado
Former adviser to the regional
Cecilia Prado Seijas governor of Ucayali (2015),
Former director of DRAU Manuel Gambini Rupay. At the
(2013-2014). She approved beginning of 2015, while working
the proof of ownership for the regional government, he
certificates granted to also served as consultant to
private individuals. Plantaciones de Ucayali SA.

DENNIS MELKA
ACQUIRED MORE THAN
12,000 HECTARES OF Alfredo Rivera Loarte
Director of Operations
LAND IN UCAYALI UNTIL at Plantaciones de
Ucayali SAC
THE END OF 2014 (2013-until now)

Dennis Melka
American-Czech businessman
who directed Plantaciones de
Ucayali SAC and Plantaciones de
Pucallpa SAC. He has been
Some of the landholders of these accused of deforesting more than
ands who benefited from the DRAU's 13,000 hectares of forest in the
Peruvian Amazon.
decision sold them to Plantaciones
de Ucayali, according to a
preliminary investigation by the

rosecutor of Ucayali Specializing in

THE SALE (2014-2015)

 Jorge Velásquez; the former director alleged acts of corruption between
6. ADMINISTRATIVE AND of the DRAU, Miguel Seijas Del former officials of the DRAU, settlers

JUDICIAL PROCESSES THE Castillo and the former regional vice

president Carlos Henderson Lima for
and representatives of the former
Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C. (now
MELKA GROUP AND PUBLIC crimes against forests and improper
use of agricultural land.
Ocho Sur P S.A.C.). In January 2016,
the Office of the Attorney Specialized
OFFICIALS ARE FACING In that process, the former governor
in Environmental Crimes of the
Ministry of the Environment asked
Velasquez is accused of crimes against the Prosecutor’s Office to prepare a
natural resources for not “checking preliminary investigation against the
In Ucayali, and other regions of the the laws, regulations and regional defendants, including Dennis Melka,
Peruvian Amazon, the management of ordinances” prior to authorize the Alfredo César Rivera Loarte, among
regional and municipal governments beginning of work in more than 4 other company executives; as well as
has been characterized by timber 700 hectares of Plantacioness de Celia Prado Seijas, former director of
trafficking and corruption. In 2012, an Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U SAC). the DRAU; Manuel Gambini Rupay,
Environmental Investigation Agency Likewise, the approval in favor of the current regional governor of Ucayali
(EIA) investigation reported on the company, according to the prosecutor and other public officials. Gambini has
system used to export illegal timber from investigation, would have been carried blamed the previous administration of
Peru to the United States. The document out without considering the impact on Jorge Velásquez Portocarrero for the
also reports on the modus operandi used the environment. destruction of the forests of Ucayali
to export wood of endangered species. in the hands of Melka’s companies in
The First Public Prosecutor’s Office spite of the denunciation against him.
In the case of palm oil, the activities of Specialized in Environmental Matters
Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U of Ucayali also initiated a preliminary In mid-January 2016, Gambini Rupay
SAC) and Plantaciones de Pucallpa (now investigation to representatives testified for the Prosecutor’s Office
Ocho Sur P SAC) have been questioned of Plantaciones de Pucallpa (now that he did not know Dennis Melka or
more than once and not only by citizens Ocho Sur P SAC) for the alleged the representative of his companies in
affected by the operations of these crime against forests executed with Ucayali, Alfredo Rivera Loarte. The
companies, but also by institutions of the heavy equipment in the Tibecocha governor stated that he did not have
Peruvian State. sector. The investigation was in any “coordination or relation with the
response to Washington Bolivar Díaz company Plantaciones de Pucallpa
In December 2014, the Ministry of denunciation, native leader of the SAC” and that he did not owe “favors”
Agriculture and Irrigation ordered to stop Santa Clara de Uchunya community. to this company.
Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur These inquiries, included in fiscal file
U SAC) activities and in September 2015 122-2015, were the ones that led the However, Gambini Rupay
it issued the same order for Plantaciones Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation management of the region was
de Pucallpa (now Ocho Sur P SAC). In to approve the resolutions that ordered challenged due to the conflict of
both cases this measure was given due the stop of activities of Plantaciones interest that involved his former
to the deforestation of more than 11 000 de Pucallpa, now Ocho Sur P S.A.C., in advisor Jorge Tijero Tirado, who
hectares. In the Loreto region, it was also September 2015. besides his work in the public sector
ordered in 2014 to halt the activities of was also an advisor for Plantaciones de
Cacao del Perú Norte due to more than 1 In the preliminary inquiries of Ucayali SAC, now Ocho Sur P S.A.C.
900 hectares deforested by the company. this prosecutor investigation, At the beginning of 2015, this
But the operations were not stopped information was also collected on
despite the resolution of the Ministry of
Agriculture.

In the Public Prosecutor’s Office, other

proceedings against former DRAU
officials and executives of Melka
companies continue their course as a
complex case, as stated in fiscal file 072-
2013. The Prosecutor’s Office Specialized
in Environmental Matters of Ucayali
has investigated the responsibility of the
former regional governor of Ucayali,

17
official was hired in the regional Offences by Public Officials received in companies like Maple or LNG.
government, according to the register early 2017 a new complaint against the
of suppliers of the State of the Ministry former Director of DRAU’s Directorate The transfer between the companies of
of Economy and Finance. Gambini for physical and legal regularization, Melka and La Fiduciaria took place on
has acknowledged to the Public José Crespín Sempértegui, which now September 2, 2015, the same day that
Prosecutor’s Office that Tijero worked is part of the case No. 2016-330-0. the Ministry of Agriculture ordered
in the office of “Technical Advice of The crime Crespín is accused of is Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C. (now
Agriculture Management”29. embezzlement and falsifying documents Ocho Sur P SAC) to stop its activities.
because he allegedly participated in the The reason was more than 5 200
In 2014, Gambini, who was also mayor grant of proof of ownership certificates hectares of forests cut down without
of the district of Irázola, was denounced granted with the submission of false authorization31.
for the alleged crime of money signatures. This complaint, as known
laundering from drug trafficking and by Convoca, contains indications of the The modality of the transfer used by
corruption to the Public Prosecutor’s file 2014-70, closed in February of this Melka’s companies was the trust fund.
Office and to the Public Attorney’s year, which was also investigated by That is to say, a contract was made
Office. Another person who appears in the Office of the Prosecutor of Ucayali so that, in this case, La Fiduciaria
this complaint is the brother of Manuel Specializing in Corruption Offences by manages or invests the goods for its
Gambini, Juan Peter Gambini, who has Public Officials. own benefit or that of a third party.
been investigated for alleged money This way no judge could order a
laundering. In the fortnight of May 2017, despite precautionary measure on the assets
the evidences detected, the Prosecutor’s of these companies to comply with the
In the Office of the Corporative Office Specialized in Environmental compensation to the State for damage
Provincial Prosecutor of Ucayali Matters of Loreto declared unfounded to the natural heritage.
Specializing in Corruption Offences a complaint against the founder of
by Public Officials there is another Cacao del Peru Norte, the businessman Between June and July of 2016, La
investigation against former officials of Dennis Nicholas Melka, for crimes Fiduciaria put in public auction the
the DRAU. Former director Celia Prado against forests. In response, on May estates (the deforested lands) of
Seijas appears in the inquiries made to 22, the Attorney Specialized in Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C. and
determine if she took advantage of her Environmental Crimes of the Ministry Plantaciones de Ucayali S.A.C but it
post to negotiate with land owners the of the Environment, Julio Guzmán, was declared deserted. Convoca knew
sale of their lands to Plantaciones de filed a new complaint in the same that later a bidder acquired the goods
Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U SAC). Prosecutor’s Office of Loreto accusing auctioned, but La Fiduciaria avoided
Melka of being the author behind the giving more information about it. This
The farmers of Bajo Rayal stated in deforestation. Next to him have been bidder turned out to be United Oils, one
the presence of prosecutors that they denounced, two other executives of the of the companies from the Melka group,
repeatedly complained to Prado Seijas company: Rubén Antonio Espinoza, which acquired the land - advised by
about the invasion of their lands by the legal representative, and Ernesto Vega the Hernández law firm - for USD 62
company and that she never listened to Delgado, chief of operations of the million.
them. In the best case scenario, what company30.
she asked them was to negotiate with With the start of 2017, United Cacao
the company. “If you want I can talk While the investigations in the Limited’s strategy - operated in Ucayali
to the company myself to help you, so Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in by Plantaciones de Pucallpa and
they pay well for your properties, we Environmental Matters of Loreto Plantaciones de Ucayali- has been to
have already talked with the company and Ucayali are progressing slowly, separate Melka’s participation from the
and they are willing to talk. In addition, 223 properties - more than 10 000 company. The questioned businessman
there is no other way left because hectares- belonging to Plantaciones moved away from the companies the
the company has already worked in de Ucayali SAC (now Ocho Sur U first days of January according to a
areas they mistakenly entered”, is SAC) and Plantaciones de Pucallpa statement from the company itself.
what, according to the farmers, Celia SAC (now Ocho Sur P SAC ) were
Prado answered to those complaining, transferred to La Fiduciaria SA, a However, the commercial cycle and
as stated in the documents of the company specialized in trusts funds and the modus operandi of the companies
prosecutor investigation. Prado Seijas stating on its website that it dominates created by Melka repeat themselves
denied these statements to Convoca. more than 50% of the fiduciary market again and again.
in Peru and for each operation it
Despite the fact that the complaint adapts to the “new structure” that its
against Celia Prado and former DRAU clients need . Among them, influential
officials was closed, the Office of the mining companies like Yanacocha and
Corporative Provincial Prosecutor Poderosa, fisheries companies like
of Ucayali Specializing in Corruption Copeinca and Hayduk, or fossil fuel

18
 Foto: John Bevan

Directorate of Ucayali (DRAU). The • Gambini Rupay has denied any link
7. CONCLUSIONS current governor Manuel Gambini is with Dennis Melka’s companies, even
investigated for crimes against forests told the Prosecutor’s Office that he
and forest formations along with other did not know this businessman, nor
officials who continue to have positions the representative of his companies in
• The Czech-American businessman in the DRAU. Ucayali, Alfredo Rivera Loarte, and that
Dennis Melka and his operators he did not have any “coordination or
managed to implement, with the • DRAU officials such as Celia Prado relation with the company Plantaciones
help of Ucayali regional government Seijas, former director of this office de Pucallpa SAC” and that he did not
authorities and through the companies is investigated by the Office of the owe “favors” to this company. However,
Plantaciones de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur Corporative Provincial Prosecutor his former advisor Jorge Tijero Tirado
U SAC) and Plantaciones de Pucallpa of Ucayali Specializing in Corruption worked in the office of “Technical
SAC (now Ocho Sur P SAC), different Offences by Public Officials. Advice of Agriculture Management”32
strategies to get access to more than 13 and at the same time was an advisor
000 hectares of Amazon land, while • Other officials investigated, such as for Plantaciones of Ucayali S.A.C., now
clearing forests and replacing them Luis Pasquel Quevedo, former director Ocho Sur P S.A.C.
with crops of oil palm and cacao in of the Directorate for the Physical and
Ucayali, the sub-national region that Legal Regularization, are involved in the • A dozen of farmers from Bajo Rayal
concentrates the greatest amount of crime of land trafficking. He is accused village of the Ucayali region reported
deforestation in the Peruvian jungle. of having favored third parties in the to the authorities that they had lost
grant of proof of ownership certificates. about 1 000 hectares of land due to the
• Melka companies got access to over irregular grant of proof of ownership
12 000 hectares in Ucayali under three • There are indications of land certificates issued by the Regional
modalities: direct purchase of private trafficking in favor of Plantaciones de Sectoral Agriculture Directorate of
individuals (about 3 000 hectares), Ucayali, due to the use of individuals Ucayali, which favored third parties who
purchase of the State land (4 759 in the request for proof of ownership in turn sold their lands to Plantaciones
hectares) and purchase of land from a certificates that the company later de Ucayali (now Ocho Sur U SAC) of
farmers’ association (5 000 hectares). acquired. the Melka group.
There are allegations of falsifying
documents and deception in the • The current regional governor, • In Ucayali, while oil palm crop
acquisition of land. Manuel Gambini, also faces serious extensions were growing, the grant
allegations. In 2014, Gambini, who of land to private individuals also
• Current and former authorities of was also mayor of the district of skyrocketed. In the 2011 - 2014 period,
the Ucayali regional government are Irázola, was denounced for the alleged more than 3 500 certificates of land
investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s crime of money laundering from drug ownership were granted, according
Office for the way in which Melka trafficking and corruption to the Public to figures from the Regional Sectoral
companies got granted access to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali
lands and the deforestation. The former Attorney’s Office. Another person (DRAU). The increase in the grant
regional governor of Ucayali Jorge who appears in this complaint is the of proof of ownership certificates,
Velásquez Portocarrero is investigated brother of Manuel Gambini, Juan Peter approved by the Regional Sectoral
for crimes against forest and forest Gambini, who has been investigated for Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali, has
formations and improper use of alleged money laundering. triggered disputes due to the overlap of
agricultural land, along with several farmers’ lands and native communities’
officials of the Regional Agriculture lands.

19
• The Santa Clara de Uchunya
community demand respect for their
ancestral territories and has requested
an extension of more than 20 000
hectares. They denounce that other
communities, led by Plantaciones de
Pucallpa (now Ocho Sur P SAC), have
deforested in areas they consider part
of their ancestral land. The comuneros
have denounced several officials of the
DRAU involved in the grant of the more
than 12 000 hectares under different
modalities and that includes the present
regional governor of Ucayali, Manuel
Gambini Rupay.

• Land titling is a practice that has been

postponed by the Regional Sectoral
Agriculture Directorate of Ucayali
due to the grant of proof of ownership
certificates.

• Investigations in the Public

Prosecutor’s Office are progressing
slowly while the Melka group has
undertaken several strategies to prevent
authorities from taking control of
the deforested lands. One of them is
the transfer of the assets of Ucayali
companies to a fiduciary.

• There is evidence that demonstrate

how easy was for Melka companies to
gain access to the Ucayali lands while
dispossessing farmers and communities
from their lands.

20
8. NOTES

1. Quantification and analysis of the deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon for the 2010-2014 period - Ministry of the Environment http://geoservidor.
for the 2010-2014 period - Ministry of the Environment http://geoservidor. minam.gob.pe/geoservidor/Archivos/Documentos/Memoria_Descriptiva_
minam.gob.pe/geoservidor/Archivos/Documentos/Memoria_Descriptiva_ Cambios_Cobertura_Bosque_2014.pdf.
Cambios_Cobertura_Bosque_2014.pdf.

2. Translator’s note: in this occasion the term “fiscal” has been translated 16 Boletín N°01 de Gobernanza Climática. Junio
as “prosecutor” and the term “procurador” as “attorney”. For the Peruvian 2016. Proética. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/
legal system a “fiscal” and a “prosecutor” are both public officials (lawyers) p93fca2pqb8o3vs/AABL_6dMvKcd94g4jxCFFkCsa/2016/
that can participate in a judicial process, but a “fiscal” is the one who initiates Bolet%C3%ADnGobernanzaClim%C3%A1ticaN%C2%B01.pdf ?dl=0
the investigation for an alleged crime. Once it is over, he accuses or files
the investigation, and in the criminal process he asks for the penalty to be 17. According to information provided by the regional government of Ucayali
imposed before the judge. On the other hand, a “procurador” is involved in through requests for information requested for this investigation.
the investigation only if the State was aggrieved. During the criminal process,
he requests the reparation amount, which must be fixed by the judge. 18. According to the DRAU officials who were interviewed for this report.

3. The GHG inventory of 2000 - Ministry of the Environment http:// 19. See Convoca report, “Paraíso perdido: La doble titulación amenaza la
cambioclimatico.minam.gob.pe/mitigacion-del-cc/los-niveles-de- Amazonía”. http://www.convoca.pe/especiales/paraisoperdido/la-doble-
emisiones-del-peru/el-inventario-de-gei-del-2000/ titulacion-amenaza-la-amazonia

4. ¿Agroindustria en la Amazonía? Posibilidades para el desarrollo inclusivo 20. DRAU director Isaac Huamán Pérez explained in an interview for this
y sostenible de la palma aceitera en el Perú - Grupo de Análisis para el investigation the first week of October 2016.
Desarrollo (GRADE) http://www.grade.org.pe/wp-content/uploads/
LIBROGRADE_palma.pdf 21. As stated in Regional Sectoral Resolution No. 106-2014-GRU-P-DRSAU
dated June 2, 2014.
5. Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection http://www.rree.
gob.pe/promocioneconomica/invierta/Paginas/Acuerdos_de_Promocion_y_ 22. According to the inquiries made by the Office of the Corporative
Proteccion_Reciproca.aspx Provincial Prosecutor of Ucayali Specializing in Corruption Offences by
Public Officials
6. Foreign Ministry officials said that they were aware of these facts in
the investigation “Amazonia arrasada” elaborated by journalists Milagros 23. Case N° 3006015201-2013-72-0 investigated by the First Public
Salazar, Dánae Rivadeneyra and Ghiovanni Hinojosa and published by Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Environmental Matters of the Judicial
Convoca. District of Ucayali.

7. This was informed by the authorities of the regional government of Loreto 24. Investigation “Amazonía arrasada” by Convoca http://convoca.pe/
for the investigation “Amazonia arrasada” elaborated by Convoca. especiales/AMAZONIA/ .

8. Memoria anual 2015 del grupo Felda http://ir.chartnexus.com/fgv/docs/ 25. Documents can not be made public due to the confidentiality agreement
ar/ar_2015.pdf with the sources.

9. Dirty Dayak Datuks - BN’s Crony Candidates - Sarawak Report http:// 26. ¿Cómo despojar a las comunidades nativas de sus territorios ancestrales
www.sarawakreport.org/2013/05/dirty-dayak-datuks-bns-crony- a través de las “constancias de posesión”? - Instituto de Defensa Legal http://
candidates/ www.justiciaviva.org.pe/blog/como-despojar-a-las-comunidades-nativas-
de-sus-territorios-ancestrales-a-traves-de-las-constancias-de-posesion/
10. RSPO statement: https://es.scribd.com/document/334763441/25-Apr-
2016-Plantaciones-de-Pucallpa-Pre-Dec-Cp 27. Deforestación por cultivos agroindustriales de palma aceitera y cacao.
Entre la ilegalidad y la ineficacia del Estado- Defensoría del Pueblo http://
11. See CASE TRACKER Plantaciones de Pucallpa - RSPO: http://www. www.defensoria.gob.pe/modules/Downloads/informes/varios/2017/
rspo.org/members/complaints/status-of-complaints/view/88 Informe-de-Adjuntia-001-2017-DP-AMASPPI.MA-P.pdf

12. This investigation was elaborated by journalists Milagros Salazar, Dánae 28. The Laundring Machine - EIA Global https://content.eia-global.org/
Rivadeneyra and Ghiovanni Hinojosa and published by Convoca.in alliance posts/documents/000/000/501/original/The_Laundering_Machine_ENG.
with OXFAM and Kené Instituto de Estadios Forestales y Ambientales: pdf ?1475785276
http://convoca.pe/especiales/AMAZONIA/
29. These statements appear in fiscal folder 122-2015.
13. Roberto Arbitrio Linkedin https://it.linkedin.com/in/roberto-
arbitrio-b144945 30. Convoca Report “Tamshiyacu: Las tierras del desamparo” http://www.
convoca.pe/especiales/AMAZONIA/las-tierras-del-desamparo.html
14. Different sources interviewed by the journalist Dánae Rivadeneyra for
the investigation “Amazonia Arrasada” published by Convoca, explained that 31. Las pruebas de la Amazonía arrasada y la nueva maniobra del grupo
the officials of the regional government of Ucayali gave information to Melka Melka - Convoca http://www.convoca.pe/agenda-propia/las-pruebas-de-la-
regarding the state of the lands, their owners and the possibilities of sowing amazonia-arrasada-y-la-nueva-maniobra-del-grupo-melka
oil palm on large scale.
32. These statements appear in fiscal folder 122-2015.
15. Quantification and analysis of the deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

21