Rivada claims Altan won Mexico Red Compartida award ‘through improper and perhaps criminal means’

“Rivada officials sensed that they were under surveillance and took countermeasures in an attempt to ensure the integrity of their bid as well as the integrity of their people,” according to the legal filing. “One countermeasure was the hiring of security personnel to guard key employees.

“Another countermeasure—the deployment of dummy bid delivery boxes plainly marked as belonging to Rivada—proved prescient. Three weeks before the close of bidding, those boxes were hijacked at gunpoint on the streets of Mexico City, in an apparent attempt to obtain sensitive details about Rivada’s bid. The boxes, however, were empty, something the thieves only could have learned upon opening them.”

While the loss of empty boxes did not impact the Rivada consortium’s ability to submit its bid, the combination of the various events have caused Rivada officials to question the fairness of the Red Compartida procurement, according to the legal filing.

“[Rivada] therefore has reason to believe that the award to the Altan Consortium was obtained through improper and perhaps criminal means,” the legal filing states. “Together, these circumstances—the misappropriation of the Business Model, the delay in the closing of the bidding window, the barring of Dish Network, the hijacking at gunpoint in Mexico City, BanaMex’s unreasonable demands, and the ultimate disqualification of Rivada’s bid—strongly indicate a coordinated effort to rig the bidding process.”