Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office suspended Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva over a dispute with the company that had been hired to print passports.
The three-month suspension comes less than a month after the firm, Thomas Greg & Sons, sued the government for revoking a contract worth $152 million (COP600 billion).
The Inspector General’s Office suspended Leyva to “avoid the possible reiteration of the disciplinary failures he is accused of.”
While suspended, the foreign minister will be tried for allegedly declaring the contract o print new passports null and void without merit.
Leyva decided to revoke the contract in September last year, claiming there were suspicions of fraud in the bidding process.
Thomas Greg & Sons has been printing Colombian citizens’ passports since 2007 and has been accused of fraud by competitors.
The foreign ministry has failed to demonstrate the latest contract was the result of fraudulent practices.