• Submitted by: admin
• national
• Business and Economy
• 04 / 13 / 2010

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Cubans have a novel way to cheat the government out of thousands of gallons of gasoline, the daily Granma reminded its readers Tuesday.

The drivers of many government-service vehicles fill their gasoline tanks at fuel stations, paying with government-issued credit cards.

Then they sell the gasoline to other drivers for less than the fuel stations charge and pocket the money.

The technique is known as "desvío," or rerouting.

How else to explain the fact that last year in Pinar del Río province, for example, 1,293 private vehicles (many of them taxis) bought only 6.6 liters of diesel fuel each at fuel stations?

That's not even 2 gallons per year.

So far this year, privately operated cars have seldom stopped at fuel stations to buy diesel. "The average cash purchase, per fuel station, is less than one liter a day," says a manager of CIMEX, supplier of fuel to most service stations in the province.

That's a quarter of a gallon per day.

Where else could those motorists get their fuel?

The authorities are keeping a sharp eye on "questionable cards" that show a government driver loading up with more than 500 liters of gasoline or 2,000 liters of diesel  – 130 and 520 gallons, respectively – or refilling his tank more than five times in one day.

In 2009, 7,132 vehicles were found to be such gas-guzzlers, Granma said. The Ministry of Agriculture alone has reported at least 300 "questionable cards" this year.

How to curb the scam? By "adopting a more forceful attitude toward those who continue to resist orderly procedures," Granma recommends. The Comptroller General's Office may already be doing that.

By Renato Pérez Pizarro.

Source: miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/