Tonight, there is an explosive flurry of allegations directed at the Deputy Chief Forest Officer, John Pinelo. And he is counter-accusing businessman Cesar Godinez-who has a number of logging licenses.
It started today when 7News received a Company ownership document saying that Deputy Chief Pinelo was a shareholder in a company seeking a license to co-manage areas of the Mountain Pine Ridge.
We asked Pinelo about that and it led to a shocking string of allegations and counter-allegations:
Jules Vasquez
"I sent you today when I received it a copy of a company document which shows you as a shareholder in Selva Conservation Limited. And Selva Conservation is a company involved with forestry. And it is also a company that had an application before the forestry department last year for the management of recreational sites in Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve."
"How is it that you are a shareholder of a company that has an application before your department? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"Well, Jules, when you sent me that and asked me, I comically tell you, please send it to me, so I know which company I am on."
"I was shocked when you sent me a document with my name on it. I never signed anything to be a member of this company. I don't even know what the company is doing. I was asked if I wanted to be a shareholder."
"Yes, I will say that. I never signed anything or accepted to be. I have never participated in any meeting or any discussion with anybody that professes to be the directors or managers of Selva Conservation."
"So I am at shock knowing that my name is on a company where I did not sign any documents to say, yes, I agree to be a part of."
Jules Vasquez
"Now, who asked you to be a member of the company?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"Jules, in this job, you get offered a lot of things. And that is just the nature of being a head of a department."
Jules Vasquez
"Offer things as inducements?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"Inducements to have things move smoothly, quickly, or illegally. I have navigated successfully until today, making sure that I am not part of those discussions."
"But I was approached by one Mr. Cesar Godinez, who is a long-term concessionaire in the Mountain Pine Ridge. And I never signed anything, Jules, because I realized that he could use whatever he had to come back at me on a day like this."
"And the day is here. But as I told you, I am not a participant in any company. I don't actively participate. I don't even know what Selva Conservation is doing. Selva Conservation definitely does not have any concession at all in the mountain pine ridge."
"I mean, it's crazy to think that this is coming out now. And the only reason I would say that I think it is coming out is because my appointment for chief forest officer is coming up. I am acting. And so anything will come out of the woodworks to try and blackmail me or sully my name so that whoever is making decisions look at me negatively."
Jules Vasquez
"But it's not anything. This is an authentic document from the company's register. In order to be registered as a shareholder in a company, as you are here, authenticated identity documents, signed documents have to be presented."
"It is not easy, as I know it, to fraudulently put someone as a shareholder in a company. Is that what you're saying, that you are the victim of what would be a very serious case of fraud?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"If you look at it like that, Jules, it is fraud. I did not accept. I did not sign anything. I did not follow up on offers that were made to me with that."
Jules Vasquez
"But a specific offer was made to you as an inducement."
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"Yes, as an inducement, but I never followed it up. And this is what I'm saying. And now I have to discuss with my lawyer to try and remove my name from something that I never knew I was on."
Jules Vasquez
"This is the allegation that, okay, you know, you have to put me in as something in order to get a green light and they put you in something. That's the allegation."
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"And it is an allegation that I deny. It is an allegation that I deny, Jules, because, like I said, it doesn't make any sense that I will put myself in a company and not make $1 from the time my name went on that document."
"Why would I want to be in a company then? I don't have any, any participation with any activity that Mr. Godinez has. None at all. And I mentioned to you recently, Mr. Jules, that Mr. Godinez approached me after a meeting with my CEO and offered me money to help him facilitate his activities."
"And I told Mr. Godinez, I don't need any of your money. I am well off who I am, and I will be well off after you disappear from this environment. And then I mentioned it to my CEO, so she was aware that this gentleman was actually offering me a bribe to facilitate his documents."
Jules Vasquez
"But that is a serious allegation. You're accusing someone of a criminal act. Offering a public officer a bribe is a criminal act."
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"It is."
Jules Vasquez
"Why didn't you make a criminal complaint?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"I guess it was foolish of me not to follow it up."
Strong allegations-and we will have a response from Godinez shortly. But, we also saw documents showing Pinelo receiving bank transfers from Cesar Godinez. We asked him about those:
Jules Vasquez
"I have also seen from Mr. Cesar Godinez. So there's a pattern."
John Pinelo, Deputy Forest Officer
"Jules, that pattern you will have to send to me, so I can take a look and see. As I said, I spoke to my lawyer and my lawyer is telling me, don't mix up my business that I have."
"I have a little computer business with forestry operations. But I have been advised not to go into any detail with that discussion because you are telling me things that I don't even know. I would like to see proof of those things so that I can then deal with them legally."
