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Agrobanco reports loss of key financial documents regarding credits probe

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Agrobanco reports loss of key financial documents regarding credits probe

Distressed Peruvian lender Banco Agropecuario, or Agrobanco, said it lost key documents requested by Congress in relation to an ongoing investigation into irregular credits granted by the bank, Gestión reported.

The former chairman at the bank, Luis Palomino Reina, on May 31 wrote a letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Fabiola Muñoz, informing of the loss of information related to the bank's institutional and financial management between 2011 and 2017.

By the end of 2017, the state-run agricultural bank reported losses of 340 million Peruvian soles, which had accumulated since 2011. Meanwhile, the lender's delinquent loan portfolio rose to 950 million soles as a result of loans given to operators of medium-sized farms.

In November 2018, the parliament granted investigative powers to the Agrarian Commission, under the presidency of Federico Pariona, to probe the alleged irregularities in credits granted by the development lender. The commission had until June 26 to issue the final report.

A preliminary investigation in February by the Congress also found evidence of about 400 fraudulent credit operations carried out between 2013 and 2016 at the bank.

According to Pariona, the commission has been unable to produce the final report as it did not receive all the information it needed from the lender.

With the loss of key documentation, the investigation may now be extended to also include inquiring into those responsible for the disappearance of the documents, Pariona added.

As of Aug. 20, US$1 was equivalent to 3.38 Peruvian soles.