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    "headline": "Leaked Chats Show Progen CEO John Manning Discussed Fraud and Bribery in Ecuador Power Scandal",
    "dek": "Leaked chats reveal Progen CEO John Manning discussed falsifying equipment specs and refusing to pay a judge in Ecuador.",
    "prose": "In a chat dated July 5, 2024, John Manning suggested to Karla Saud that they describe 20 generators with remanufactured engines as 'newly assembled units' to avoid fraud charges. [^1]\n\nIn a chat dated June 7, 2025, John Manning refused an alleged request from Karla Saud to pay a judge in Ecuador, stating that Progen would never pay anyone abroad under any circumstances. [^2]\n\nLeaked chat logs show Progen CEO John Manning discussing the risk of criminal charges regarding remanufactured generators for the Quevedo and Salitral power plants in Ecuador. [^3]\n\nChats dated June 7, 2025, show Karla Saud proposing a bribe to a judge to secure contracts, a proposal that John Manning, Progen's CEO, firmly rejected. [^4]\n\nInvestigation by Celec in the United States has uncovered chat logs suggesting a bribery plot by Karla Saud, Progen's representative in Ecuador, regarding contracts in Ecuador. [^5]\n\nThe investigation involves 31 people, mostly technicians from Celec, but John Manning was not prosecuted despite his alleged role in the contracts. [^6]\n\nCelec unilaterally terminated contracts for the acquisition of generators worth USD 104 million, which were never delivered to Ecuador. [^7]\n\nJohn Manning stated that neither Progen nor any of its employees would ever be involved in paying a judge or government official. [^8]",
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    {
      "statement": "In a chat dated July 5, 2024, John Manning suggested to Karla Saud that they describe 20 generators with remanufactured engines as 'newly assembled units' to avoid fraud charges.",
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      "statement": "In a chat dated June 7, 2025, John Manning refused an alleged request from Karla Saud to pay a judge in Ecuador, stating that Progen would never pay anyone abroad under any circumstances.",
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      "statement": "Leaked chat logs show Progen CEO John Manning discussing the risk of criminal charges regarding remanufactured generators for the Quevedo and Salitral power plants in Ecuador.",
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      "statement": "Chats dated June 7, 2025, show Karla Saud proposing a bribe to a judge to secure contracts, a proposal that John Manning, Progen's CEO, firmly rejected.",
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      "statement": "Investigation by Celec in the United States has uncovered chat logs suggesting a bribery plot by Karla Saud, Progen's representative in Ecuador, regarding contracts in Ecuador.",
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      "published_at": "2026-09-03T19:26:24.000Z",
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      "statement": "Celec unilaterally terminated contracts for the acquisition of generators worth USD 104 million, which were never delivered to Ecuador.",
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