LIMA -- The Anti-Corruption Public Prosecutor Reynaldo Abia has decided to open an investigation against the ex-First Lady of Peru, Nadine Heredia, for irregularities in favour of the Odebrecht company for the tender of the Gasoducto del Sur project (Southern Gas Pipeline), judicial sources say Monday.

 The investigations begin with the suspected crimes of collusion and incompatible negotiation.

 According to the Peruvian news source Peru21, the Nationalist party leader “directly coordinated” with Jorge Barata, ex-representative of the Odebrecht construction company in Peru, who is also under investigation in the same case.

 From March to April 2014, Nadine had “decided to change” the President of the Southern Gas Pipeline project to Edgar Ramírez, previously a consultant for Odebrecht.

 A witness claims that Heredia “actively participated in the first trimester in 2012 of the redesigning of the project,” active in meetings regarding the “amplification of the capacity of the duct to increase the cost of the project.”

 Despite ex-Energy Minister Rosa Maria Ortiz confirming that the ex-First Lady participated in meetings which discussed the benefits of the project, the witness claims that Nadine “knew that there was not enough gas in the zone for the project, that is to say, she knew the project would not be viable.”

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