Video shows China Harbour exec receiving cash on Bogotá metro construction site

Colombian prosecutors have opened a case after a video surfaced showing a China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) commercial manager receiving cash from the legal representative of Union Temporal Metrobuild, a subcontractor on the Bogotá metro line. The footage, lasting 26 minutes, records the handover of 60 million pesos, with the subcontractor indicating each bag contained 5 million pesos. According to the complaint, the cash was a condition for CHEC to clear invoices ranging from 1 billion to 1.2 billion pesos for work completed in March.

CHEC responded that the transaction was a legitimate retention payment agreed upon amid a contractual dispute over the subcontractor’s performance. The case centers on the former CHEC offices in Bogotá’s Teusaquillo district and adds a corruption dimension to the continent’s biggest metro project. Investigators are examining whether the cash exchange violated anti-bribery laws.