Rivada Networks sues to contests bid disqualification in Mexico, alleges procurement-related robbery
Rivada Networks reported the incident to officials helping to oversee the Red Compartida procurement, but Carney said he was unsure whether the matter had been reported to a law-enforcement entity.
“We reported it to Bank of America, which sounds weird, but Bank of America/Merrill Lynch was acting as the government’s financial advisor and as a go-between between the bidders and the regulator throughout this whole process,” Carney said. “They would make introductions with potential investors and communicate all manner of things back and forth.
“They served as a conduit of information between the bidders and the government, so we felt they were the most appropriate avenue through which to convey our concerns over the fact that this had happened. We report it to them at the time, but we have no indications that they ever took any actions about it.”
Carney noted that the bid boxes were empty, so the alleged incident did not impact the company’s ability to submit its proposal in a timely manner.
“We surmise that they [the robbers] didn’t know whether the boxes were empty or full—they weren’t like cardboard banker’s boxes, so it wouldn’t have been immediately obvious that they were empty,” Carney said. “They may not have known or been told what to expect to be in the boxes, either.
“As it was described to me, they went straight to the trunk, like they knew what they were looking for.”