Tecnoglass CEO & COO Jose & Christian Daes Alleged to Aid Sinaloa Cartel
Illicit Financing Schemes, According to Recently Leaked Intelligence Memos

Tecnoglass “Independent” Board Members Ensnared; Memos Allege Money
Laundering via Banco Serfinanza; Numerous Insiders Hold Longstanding Ties

Tecnoglass Financial and Related Party Questions Intensify; We Identified At
Least Seven Situations of Concern, e.g., Tecnoglass Claims to Pay Millions to a
Shell that Had Been Dissolved Months Prior

Tecnoglass Fallout Looms; Hector “Yogi Bear” Amaris Already Co-Operating
with Authorities; Daes Associate Julio Gerlein Charged Just Days Ago

Tecnoglass Shares Totally Divorced from Peers After Passive Index Inclusion;
Daes Have Unloaded $345 Million in Stock in the Past 9 Months

We are short Tecnoglass Inc. (“TGLS”, “the Company”) because we uncovered new evidence that links Tecnoglass insiders – including its CEO and COO Jose and Christian Daes – to Sinaloa cartel operations in Colombia.

In late 2022 and 2023, Mexican hackers leaked a cache of Mexican intelligence reports which detailed the Sinaloa cartel’s “illicit financing of the presidential campaign of the Republic of Colombia.” The leaked documents were meant to be redacted, but by simply highlighting, copying, and pasting the “redacted” text, we found that Tecnoglass brothers Jose and Christian Daes were named explicitly as two of the eight businessmen who allegedly participated in this scheme.

The memo further states that the Sinaloa cartel and its affiliates “have built a financial apparatus to mobilize the proceeds of their criminal activities” via Banco Serfinanza.

In turn, our research identified numerous Tecnoglass insiders and Daes family members – including at least three Tecnoglass “independent” board members – who hold roles or ties to Serfinanza, including those that pre-date Tecnoglass. As one Colombian journalist recently wondered: “Serfinanza: The Daescharian Caliphate’s Laundromat?” In our view, these connections call into question both the true independence of the Company’s board and the veracity of its previous internal investigation.¹

We believe that U.S. and Colombian authorities are not only cracking down on the Sinaloa cartel, but that their reach now threatens to upend the “Daescharian Caliphate.”

• As of February 2025, longtime associate Hector “Yogi Bear” Amaris is reportedly cooperating with both

U.S. and Colombian criminal authorities. In a public letter, he pledged to expose four different corruption schemes – including vote buying, money laundering, and public works corruption – each of which has been linked to Tecnoglass insiders and the Daes brothers.

• Just days ago on August 6, 2025, Colombia’s Attorney General charged Daes associate Julio Gerlein Echeverria for bribery and witness tampering in the wake of the vote-buying Mexican intelligence memos named the Daes brothers right next to Julio Gerlein, as shown above.

The Daes historically held majority control of Tecnoglass but in the past 9 months have dumped $345 million in stock – their largest sales in Company history – including $118 million sold just days ago.²

Our investigation also details our views on seven Tecnoglass deals that we find highly concerning. For example, Tecnoglass claims to have paid millions to a Colombia-based shell company in April 2024 – a red flag in and of itself – but our review of corporate records reveals that the shell had already been liquidated, dissolved, and cancelled months prior to the supposed payment. Filings showed no signs that any payment had ever been made. We detail our full views on this, and several more examples, herein.

Tecnoglass consistently claims forthcoming ex-Florida growth, but 85% of its business remains in the sunshine state, where fundamentals are rolling over.³ Brokers say, “I don’t think it’s a secret that the market cycle for new construction multifamily is ending” and “if it wasn’t shovels in the ground by a couple of months ago or last year, they are not going vertical.” Tecnoglass subsidiary GM&P is currently suing one developer for unpaid bills related to the Miami WorldCenter project, which has been stalled for 3 years and was foreclosed just last month.

In mid-2024, Tecnoglass joined the Russell indices, which we think contributed to a massive valuation dislocation amid forced buying from passive investors. Tecnoglass shares now trade at a historically high multiple of 10.8x EBITDA vs. just 7.1x for peers, even as insiders dump, governance risks intensify, and the fundamental backdrop worsens. We are short Tecnoglass and believe shares are headed lower.

Summary of Culper Research Opinions⁴

• Tecnoglass is a NYSE-listed manufacturer, supplier, and installer of windows and other glass products, primarily for multi-family and commercial high rises. The Company manufactures primarily from its Barranquilla, Colombia facility (84% of long-lived assets in Colombia) and sells primarily into the U.S. (95% of revenues), and more particularly to Florida (85% of consolidated revenues).

• Tecnoglass has long touted growth outside of Florida, but its own results fail to support those claims. In 2022, Tecnoglass disclosed Florida comprised 91% of S. sales, but claimed that 24% of year-end backlog was located outside of the state – implying meaningful ex-Florida growth in 2023 and 2024. Yet Tecnoglass then reported ex-Florida revenues were just 10% and 11% of U.S. revenues in 2023 and 2024. In our view, the massive gap suggests either the Company’s backlog is overstated, or not as firm as portrayed.

• In Florida, fundamentals are rolling over. Building permits peaked in mid-2022, while South Florida remains over-supplied and prices are now falling amid, for example, what Bloomberg recently referred to as “a uniquely bad ” Tecnoglass claims “virtually zero” project cancellations, but we found that Tecnoglass subsidiary GM&P is currently fighting in court for $2.9 million in unpaid work related to the Miami WorldCenter. The development broke ground in 2021, but construction has been halted since March 2024, and in July 2025 was foreclosed on by lenders.

• In the past 9 months, CEO and COO Jose and Christian Daes have dumped $345 million in Tecnoglass shares – their largest-ever sales: $104.6 million sold in November 2024, $122.6 million sold in May 2025, and an additional $118.2 million sold just days ago, on August 14, 2025.

• In November 2024, Tecnoglass’ Non-Executive Chairman A Lorne Weil sold his entire stake in the Company, and resigned a month and a half later, effective immediately.

• In December 2021, Hindenburg Research published a report on Tecnoglass which detailed, in part, Hindenburg’s views on the Daes brothers’ historical ties to the Cali cartel and related allegations of corruption, as well as various problematic related-party transactions and financial irregularities. A week later, Tecnoglass announced a Special Committee of its Board of Directors to investigate these claims, and exactly 90 days after that, declared the investigation complete, with “no evidence” of fraud.

• The Trump administration has made cartels like the Sinaloa a prime target. Executive Order 14157 designated groups like the Sinaloa as terrorist organizations, and the Treasury has followed on with sanctions against those found to be aiding the cartels.
• In late 2022 and 2023, Mexican hackers leaked a cache of Mexican intelligence reports which detail how a group of Colombian businessmen laundered Sinaloa cartel funds to finance Colombian elections. The leaked documents were meant to be redacted, but we found that by simply highlighting, copying, and pasting the “redacted” text into a new document, Tecnoglass brothers Jose and Christian Daes were named explicitly as two of the eight businessmen involved in the Sinaloa-funded scheme.

• The memo further stated that the Sinaloa cartel and its affiliates “have built a financial apparatus to mobilize the proceeds of their criminal activities” specifically through the Char family’s Banco Serfinanza. In turn, Tecnoglass – including not only the Daes brothers but the Company’s “independent” board members and other employees – hold extensive ties to the Char family and Serfinanza. As one Colombian journalist recently asked: “Serfinanza: The Daescharian Caliphate’s Laundromat?”
  • Our research details how three longstanding Tecnoglass “independent” board members have official roles or historical ties to Serfinanza and the Char family that even pre-date Tecnoglass. In our view, these ties call into question both the independence of the prior Special Committee and the Company’s current
• • Tecnoglass’s very own Lead Independent Director, Julio Torres – responsible for taking Tecnoglass public as the founding CEO of Andina Acquisition Corp – has been a director of Serfinanza since May 2011, five months prior to when he joined the Tecnoglass board.

   

  • Tecnoglass independent board member Luis Fernando Castro Vergara was previously CEO of Bancoldex (Banco de Comercio Exterior), a state-owned bank of banks that has funded Banco Serfinanza. While at Bancoldex, Vergara was himself subject to multiple investigations by the Colombia AG and Comptroller’s office, alleging overcharges, missing funds, and conflicts of interest in contract awards.

   

  • Tecnoglass independent board member Carlos Alfredo Cure has similarly served as an advisor to the Char family-owned Grupo Olimpica since at least 2015 – several years prior to joining Tecnoglass.

   

  • We uncovered a litany of additional ties between Tecnoglass insiders, Daes family members, Serfinanza, and the Char empire. For example: Serfinanza Vice President Patricia Abudinen Abuchaibe is a cousin of Jose and Christian Daes and the sister of Tecnoglass “Financial Specialist” Alexa Abudinen Abuchaibe; Karen Abudinen Abuchaibe is a cousin of the Daes, “Social Architect” at the Tecnoglass foundation, and has been photographed arm-in-arm with Alejandro Char; Maria Angelica Malabet is Serfinanza’s Credit Manager, and the wife of Luis Eduardo Barrios Lopez, who runs the A Construir S.A. construction group.

   

  • The Trump administration has made the Sinaloa cartel a primary target, with sanctions, asset freezes, and even military action. We believe that both U.S. and Colombian authorities are already closing in on the “Daescharian Caliphate.”

   

  • In February 2025, Hector Amaris, k.a. “Yogi Bear,” a Char lieutenant, reported “partner of the Daes” and facilitator of the Sinaloa cartel schemes, began cooperating with criminal investigators. His letter to Colombian authorities stated that he would provide evidence to prosecute both the vote-buying and the “Triple A” schemes.

   

  • Just days ago on August 6, 2025, Colombia’s Attorney General filed charges against Julio Gerlein, who was named alongside the Daes brothers in intelligence memos. The new charges allege bribery and witness tampering – that Gerlein attempted to bribe former congresswoman Aida Merlano to withhold testimony that might implicate him in the vote-buying scheme. In testimony, Merlano also named A Construir as benefitting from corruption alongside the Char and Gerlein families.

   

  • In 2019, Tecnoglass acquired 70% of ES Metals, which Hindenburg Research previously alleged was owned by children of the Daes brothers via a shell Tecnoglass has never explicitly refuted these allegations, nor provided an alternative explanation. In November 2023, TGLS claimed to acquire the remaining 30% of ES Metals for $5.5 million, paid in two installments – in late 2023 and April 2024 – to Colombia-based Incantesimo SAS, a shell company wholly owned by Iremia SAS, yet another shell company. However, our review of corporate filings for Incantesimo and Iremia suggests that neither entity ever held any material funds, revenues, or trading activity apart from their initial capitalization. We cannot find any mention of the $5.5 million in payments, nor any mention of a stake in ES Metals, neither before nor after Tecnoglass’s supposed payments. Moreover, by February 2024, both Incantesimo and Iremia had been liquidated, dissolved, and cancelled. It is unclear to us exactly how Tecnoglass could have paid the second installment months later.
  • Hindenburg Research also detailed what it viewed as problems of Tecnoglass’s disclosures of its relationship with A Construir S.A., one of Barranquilla’s “mega-contractors” historically majority-owned by the Daes brothers. After completing its “independent investigation” in March 2022, Tecnoglass SEC filings suggest that the Daes brothers divested their stake in A Construir in June However, our review of Colombian and Panamanian filings again raises numerous questions and leads us to believe that the Daes continue to control A Construir by proxy.

   

  • Tecnoglass no longer discloses A Construir as a related party, but continues to do business with A Construir, both as a vendor and a customer. A Construir’s public Instagram brags of its ongoing construction of the Company’s Barranquilla expansion, while Tecnoglass is named as a supplier to A Construir’s construction projects in Colombia. In September 2024, Tecnoglass COO Christian Daes was photographed alongside Alex Char at a groundbreaking event for A Construir’s construction of a new school in Barranquilla. Tecnoglass is reported to be providing the windows.
  • Our review also uncovered numerous entities that appear to be tied to Tecnoglass insiders and distributing Tecnoglass products. Tecnoglass’ Design Department Director Samir Sabagh is named as manager of Alternativa Design LLC, a Florida entity which claims to offer “impact resistant” and “hurricane ” Our review of import/export records reveals Tecnoglass has shipped product to Alternativa Design LLC since 2020 and as recent as April 2025. The entity is never mentioned in Tecnoglass’ related party disclosures.

   

  • Panama Crystal Engineering S.A. (“PCE”) is Tecnoglass distributor based on its Instagram posts and import/export data. The company is owned by a cousin of Tecnoglass CEO Jose Daes.
  • Windglass A. was incorporated in July 2018 by Daniel Cuello Daes, sister Monica and their brother Luis Carlos. Per its own Instagram, Windglass has been involved in numerous commercial and residential projects from late 2018 through mid-2025. Import/export records reveal its largest supplier is Tecnoglass.

   

  • Finally, we uncovered two entities run by or otherwise tied to Daniel Daes and Nicolas Daes, the sons of CEO Jose Daes, each of whom claim to work at A Wyoming entity named Daeshop LLC was formed in 2023, is registered to Tecnoglass headquarters, and managed by Nicolas. Similarly in May 2023, a Florida entity named Glass Arch LLC was registered to Daniel Daes, who claims to have worked as “Analyst” at Tecnoglass since finishing college in 2017. Tecnoglass does not disclose either entity.

   

  Introduction to Tecnoglass: Made in Colombia, Sold in Florida

  Tecnoglass is a NYSE-traded manufacturer, supplier, and installer of glass, windows, and other related products for the multi-family, commercial, and single-family residential construction markets.

  The Company manufactures primarily from its 5.8 million square foot complex in Barranquilla, Colombia (84% of long-lived assets in Colombia), and exports products almost entirely the U.S (95% of revenues), primarily to Florida (85% of consolidated revenues). For the past several years, Tecnoglass has claimed to grow outside of Florida. For example, Tecnoglass claimed in 2022 and 2023 that:

These disclosures suggest that Tecnoglass had ~$167 million of ex-Florida backlog at year-end 2022 and ~$191 million of ex-Florida backlog at year-end 2023. In turn, investors could have reasonably expected two-thirds of the

$191 million and the remaining one-third of the $167 million – or $183 million in total – to be recognized as ex- Florida revenues in 2024. Yet Tecnoglass went on to report just $93 million in ex-Florida revenues for 2024 – just half of what we reasonably expected.

Source: Culper analysis based on Company disclosures

This suggests to us either that significant portions of the Company’s ex-Florida backlog are prone to cancellation, or the Company is simply overstating its ex-Florida backlog in the first place.

This geographic concentration also presents a significant fundamental risk, as cracks are showing across Florida construction markets.

Florida private housing permits peaked in mid-2022, according to Federal Reserve data. Redfin’s most recent data shows Florida median home prices down 1.3% YoY, homes sold down 8.7% with a median 74 days on market (+15 days). Condos and co-ops are particularly bad, with median prices down 9.9%, homes sold down 14.5%, and time on market to 106 days (+21 days). Bloomberg called South Florida a “uniquely bad slowdown” and in May 2025, columnist Jonathan Levin separately noted that the state has been bolstered in recent years by trends in immigration, international buyers, and pandemic transplants – each of which are now reversing.

Just days ago, TheRealDeal asked, “Why developers are selling South Florida multifamily sites.” Brokers said, “I don’t think it’s

a secret that the market cycle for new construction multifamily is ending” and “if it wasn’t shovels in the ground by a couple of months ago or last year, they are not going vertical.”

TheRealReal has also written about similar problems in commercial real estate. Earlier this year, the group created a map to track many of South Florida’s cancelled or delayed office projects.

Among them is the Miami WorldCenter, which broke ground in 2021, but has been halted since March 2024. In October 2024, Tecnoglass subsidiary GM&P filed suit against the developers of the Miami WorldCenter, alleging

it was owed $2.9 million for unpaid work. Just last month, the lenders filed suit to foreclose on the unfinished project. GM&P’s case remains ongoing as of latest docket updates.⁵

Tecnoglass appears to be responding to fundamental challenges with promotional activity. In the past 2 months, the Company has run another rebate campaign in its single-family residential business. The Company ran similar promotions in 2024, which CFO Santiago Giraldo acknowledged in 2024 conference calls as a source of margin compression, but claimed was “mostly concluded” as of May 2024 and “completely through” as of August 2024.⁶

Source: ES Windows (Tecnoglass brand)

We think Tecnoglass shares have become totally divorced from underlying fundamentals – a view also backed by recent insider actions.

In May 2024, Tecnoglass had been notified that it would

• be included in the Russell indices. Weighting in such indices would be determined based on closing prices on June 28, 2024.

• On June 25, 2024, the Company announced a review of strategic alternatives. Shares rallied 21.6% on the day on several multiples of the usual trading volume.
• On November 11, 2024, the Company announced in conjunction with Q3 2024 earnings that it had completed its review of strategic alternatives, without any sale of the Instead Tecnoglass “affirmed its commitment to a long-term growth strategy.”

• A day later, on November 12, 2024, Energy Holding Corp (the Daes brothers affiliated shareholding entity⁷) sold an astounding $104.6 million in The same day, Tecnoglass’ long-time Board Chairman A. Lorne

Weil sold the entirety of his shares. Weil had previously served as the Non-executive Chairman of Andina Acquisition Corp., the entity which took Tecnoglass public via SPAC in 2013.

• On December 30, 2024, Chairman Lorne Weil resigned from the Board, effective immediately.

Tecnoglass didn’t disclose his resignation until a full week later.

• In May 2025, the Daes sold an additional $122.6 million in

• Just days ago on August 14, 2025, the Daes sold yet an additional $118.2 million in stock. In short, the Daes brothers – who held majority-control of Tecnoglass for decades – have in the span of just the past 9 months sold $345 million in stock and ceded majority control of the Company.

Amid this backdrop, we think Tecnoglass shares continue to trade at an irrational valuation premium to peers, especially considering the Company’s inability to grow outside of Florida and its Colombia-based operations which subject the Company to significant tariff risks.⁸

Tecnoglass Dismisses Hindenburg Allegations After Mere 90-Day Review

Tecnoglass’ Daes brothers Jose and Christian Daes are heads of one of the most influential families along Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Their ties to Colombia’s Char family – said to have “almost absolute power in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla and the surrounding Atlantico province” – are strong. Indeed, the Colombian media often refers to the longstanding Char and Daes family entanglements as the “Daescharian Caliphate” or the “Daes- Char Empire.”

outstanding ordinary shares. Energy Holding Corporation, in turn, is controlled by members of the Daes family, who together own 100% of the shares of Energy Holding Corporation.”

8 Data/estimates via a leading third-party aggregator.

“Daescharist Tyranny” – Source: Vox Populi (Colombia)

In December 2021, Hindenburg Research published a critical report on Tecnoglass entitled “Cocaine Cartel Connections, Undisclosed Family Deals, and Accounting Irregularities All In One Nasdaq SPAC.” Tecnoglass shares declined over 40% in less than a week. The report detailed, in short, Hindenburg’s views on the Daes Brothers’ historical ties to the Cali cartel and related allegations of corruption, various undisclosed or under- disclosed related-party transactions, and various financial irregularities. These led Hindenburg to the conclusion that “we have no faith in the company’s financials…”

One week later, Tecnoglass announced that a Special Committee of the independent directors of the board would assess the allegations raised in the report. Precisely 90 days later, the Company declared the probe complete. The Company’s statement declared that the Special Committee (emphasis ours), “did not, during the course of its work, identify evidence of fraud associated with the related-party transactions referenced in the short seller report.”

Source: Tecnoglass

We view these findings as problematic for two reasons. First, note that conspicuously missing from the statement is any discussion of the Special Committee’s findings regarding Hindenburg’s allegations of cartel associations.

Second – as we detail herein – we believe the Special Committee was compromised by the involvement of purportedly “independent” board members who themselves have ties to the Char family, Banco Serfinanza, and Olimpica – groups now named by both Mexican intelligence memos and former Char ally, now informant, Hector Amaris – as the very conduits of illicit activity.

In what follows, we detail new, previously unreported evidence that we believe ties Tecnoglass and the Daes brothers to the infamous Sinaloa cartel and widespread corruption along Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

Tecnoglass Executives Jose and Christian Daes Named by Mexican Intelligence as Involved in Sinaloa Cartel Election Scheme

In late 2022 and 2023, Mexican hackers leaked six terabytes of data from Mexican military and defense agencies, initially published by Colombia’s leading news radio network, W Radio. The Mexican government confirmed the leaks, now referred to as the “Guacamaya Leaks.”

The intelligence reports detailed various aspects the Sinaloa Cartel’s criminal operations inside of Colombia, including their “infiltrating

infiltrating the financial and political system” via “illicit financing” schemes, resulting in the cartel seizing “consolidated control of at least three of Colombia’s main ports: Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta. Recall that Tecnoglass is headquartered in Barranquilla, and most of its product flows through the Barranquilla port, according to import/export records.⁹ More particularly, the memos described:

• A “back-to-back” scheme whereby, in short, Sinaloa cartel funds would be funneled to politicians as loans, and the debt from the politician would be repaid on their behalf by Barranquilla businessmen, including Jose and Christian Daes, utilizing the proceeds of corrupt contract awards.

Source: Leaked Intelligence Memos

• A scheme wherein the Sinaloa cartel “have built a financial apparatus to mobilize the proceeds of their criminal activities through the Colombian banking system,” in particular, through Banco Serfinanza – a bank established in 2019 by Colombia’s infamous Char family – where numerous members of the Daes family, Tecnoglass employees, and even multiple Tecnoglass “independent board members” hold overlapping employments, directorships, and financial entanglements.

Following the publication of the reports, Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the government’s financial watchdog to investigate the claims. Banco Serfinanza denied the accusations, while Alejandro Char, also named in the reports, denied the accusations, threatened legal action, and claimed that “we have never had contact with anybody related to drug trafficking or money laundering.”¹⁰

Tecnoglass and the Daes brothers, however, appear to have avoided substantial scrutiny to date, as the leaked memos “redacted” their names. We found, however, that the “redacted” text remains in the pdf – readers can see Jose and Christian Daes named explicitly by simply copying and pasting the text into a new document.

Source: Leaked Intelligence Memos

Leaked Memos Also Describe Sinaloa Cartel’s Money Laundering via Banco Serfinanza. We Identified Numerous Tecnoglass Insiders with Ties to Serfinanza

The leaked memos also detail the Sinaloa cartel’s use of Banco Serfinanza (“Serfinanza”) to channel and mask the proceeds of their operations. We find this revelation incredibly concerning given the myriad entanglements between Tecnoglass insiders, the Daes family, and Serfinanza.

Source: Mexican Intelligence Memos

According to source “Mochis-6,” large amounts of cash from their operations are channeled through “currency exchange banks,” and the owners of these “informal banks” transfer their funds to “Banco Serfinanza” to be “banked.”

1. Source “A-1” states that the expansion of the “Sinaloa Cartel” on the Atlantic Coast of Colombia is not only limited to its illicit activities of cocaine trafficking, the establishment of international routes, port control, and the establishment of alliances with local criminal groups, but also to infiltrating the financial and political system of this region of Colombia.

Source: Mexican Intelligence Memos

1. Source “A-1” states that the target, Abel Díaz Ruiz, has held at least three (3) meetings in a place called “The White House” to use Banco Serfinanza to mask his financial operations with Mexico and the UnitedStates of America. The aforementioned property is located in the northern part of the city of Barranquilla, Atlántico department, in the residential neighborhood “Villa Campestre”.¹¹
   1. Transfers have been made from Serfinanza account [redacted] to various currency exchange offices

   in Mazatlán, Sinaloa; Tijuana, Baja California; and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

    

   Serfinanza was originally the consumer financing arm of the Colombian retail chain, Olimpica, run by the Char family – the second half of the “Daescharian Caliphate.”¹² In December 2018 – just ahead of the alleged 2019 scandals – Serfinanza converted to a full-fledged bank.

    

   In turn, Tecnoglass, the Daes family, and their affiliates have extensive ties to both the Char family and to Serfinanza, with many of these ties even pre-dating Tecnoglass. See a graphic summary of our views below.

Recall that after a December 2021 report by Hindenburg Research, Tecnoglass commenced an investigation by a “Special Committee” of a group of un-named independent members of the Board, and that after just 90 days, “the Special Committee did not, during the course of its work, identify evidence of fraud associated with the related- party transactions referenced in the short seller report.”

Tecnoglass held five independent board members at the time. Two of these have since resigned – Martha (“Stormy”) Byorum and A. Lorne Weil. The remaining three – Julio Torres, Luis F. Castro Vergara, and Carlos Cure – each remain with the Company today. Yet we found that all three independent directors hold connections to the Char family and Banco Serfinanza that even pre-date their official relationships with Tecnoglass.

• Julio Torres has served on the Tecnoglass board since October 2011. Torres has been instrumental to the Tecnoglass story – he served as Co-CEO from October 2011 through January 2013, then served as founding CEO of Andina Acquisition Corp., the Cayman entity that took Tecnoglass public via SPAC in December 2013. However, Tecnoglass’s current disclosures fail to mention that Torres has also served as a director of Banco Serfinanza since at least May 2011 – even prior to his joining Tecnoglass.¹³

Source: Serfinanza Board of Directors

• Carlos Alfredo Cure has served on the Tecnoglass board since September 2019. However, since at least 2015 – well before he joined Tecnoglass – Cure has served as an “external advisor” to Grupo Olimpica – the Char family conglomerate named in the Mexican intelligence memos as a money laundering ¹⁴
• Maria Angelica Malabet is listed in Serfinanza’s 2020 prospectus as the bank’s Credit Manager, a position she continues to hold on her LinkedIn profile. Maria Angelica Malabet is also the wife of Luis Eduardo Barrios Lopez, who purports to have taken control of A Construir from the Daes brothers in August 2023, as we detail later in this ¹⁵ Serfinanza’s filings also disclose Barrios Lopez as a depositor at the bank.

• Tecnoglass Independent Director Luis Fernando Castro Vergara has served on the Board since November 2018. From 2013 to 2017, Vergara was CEO of Bancoldex,¹⁶ a state-owned “bank-of-banks” which lends to Serfinanza.¹⁷ At Bancoldex, Vergara was subject to two separate investigations related to potential overcharges of land purchases, and separately, missing funds totaling 35.8 billion pesos.¹⁸

• Patricia Abudinen Abuchaibe – VP of Serfinanza – is a cousin of Jose and Christian Daes, and the sister of Tecnoglass “Financial Specialist” Alexa Abudinen Abuchaibe.
• Serfinanza’s 2020 prospectus names Alexa Cecilia Abudinen Abuchaibe – a Daes family member and legal representative of Tecnoglass ESWindows Fundacion – as a material borrower of Serfinanza.

• Karen Abudinen Abuchaibe is “Social Architect” at the Tecnoglass foundation, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2021, Karen resigned in disgrace as Colombia’s Minister of Information and Technology, following allegations of a massive embezzlement scheme wherein $280 million USD meant to provide internet service to rural Colombian schools was in fact spent, for example, on luxury condos in the U.S.

Karen Abudinen arm in arm with Alejandro Char (Source: Twitter/X)

Trump Has Made the Sinaloa Cartel a Target; We Think Tecnoglass is Exposed

The Trump administration has made drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, a prime target.

In January 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14157, directing the State Department to designate major drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel as terrorist organizations. The order empowers U.S. authorities to freeze assets, impose sanctions, and prosecute those providing aid to the cartels. In March 2025, the DOJ / Deputy AG followed on with the creation of “Operation Take Back America” which “includes all efforts to target TdA, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel” and others. The U.S. Treasury has swiftly followed with sanctions.

• In March 2025, the S. Treasury sanctioned 6 individuals and 7 businesses it accused of money laundering for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. Treasury Secretary Bessent added that the department would use all available tools to target anyone who assists the cartels in furthering their campaign of crime and violence.”
  • In June 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN unit designated three Mexican financial groups as having “collectively played a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico based cartels…”

   

  • In June 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC unit sanctioned “Los Chapitos” of the Sinaloa Cartel, and a network of their related businesses.

  We believe there is significant risk to Tecnoglass and the Daes brothers, given not only their being named in Mexican intelligence memos, and their extensive ties to Serfinanza, but as our research suggests that prosecutors are already closing in on what journalists have called the “Daescharian Caliphate” as we detail below.

   

  February 2025: Hector “Yogi Bear” Amaris Now Co-Operating with Authorities

  Recall that Mexican intelligence memos named Hector “Yogi Bear” Amaris as a key player in Sinaloa cartel schemes, “responsible for verifying the payments… and for this he receives between 5% and 10% of the amount…”

Source: Mexican Intelligence Memos

Amaris was historically referred to as Alex Char’s “right hand man” and connected to the Daes via his father,¹⁹ and via Luis Fernando Vásquez.²⁰ In February 2025, Amaris – after having fled Colombia to Miami to seek asylum in the wake of these revelations – wrote to Colombia’s AG and stated that he would co-operate with investigations into four of the schemes linked to the Daescharian network.

Source: February 2025 Press Release / Letter from Hector Amaris (translated)

The following month, Barranquilla businessman Luis Enrique Guzmán Chams requested that Amaris’ asylum be denied, citing pending criminal cases against Amaris in Colombia. Now five months later, Amaris appears to remain in the U.S. Just days ago, Colombian prosecutors seem to have already begun following through with charges…

August 2025: Colombian AG Charges Longtime Daes Associate Julio Gerlein with Bribery, Witness Tampering in Relation to 2019 Election Schemes

Recall that Mexican intelligence memos named Julio Gerlein alongside the Daes brothers as facilitating the Sinaloa cartel’s money laundering and Colombian campaign financing activities.

Source: Mexican Intelligence Memos

As two of Colombia’s most prominent family dynasties, the Gerlein and Daes ties go back at least a decade. The families have often supported the same candidates in elections (including the Chars) and shared business interests in what one Colombian journalist refers to as “the long tradition of interconnected politics and business,” among the Gerlein, Char, and Daes families. In particular, Julio Gerlein runs Valorcon, known as one of Barranquilla’s “mega-contractors” alongside the Daes brothers. La Silla Vacia describes Julio Gerlein as “the king of mega- contracts” and the Gerlein family as “one of the superpowers of Barranquilla”.

Just days ago on August 6, 2025, Colombia’s Attorney General filed charges against Julio Gerlein Echeverria with bribery. According to the charges, Gerlein coordinated cash offers through lawyers to keep congresswoman Aida Merlano from implicating members of the Gerlein family and regional allies amid a probe into vote-buying and contract rigging schemes.²¹

Source: La Chachara, El Norte (Colombia)

According to W Radio, Merlano had testified – among other things – that Barranquilla Mayor Alejandro Char awarded public works to a specific group of contractors, including not only Gerlein’s groups, but also to the Daes- affiliated construction group, A Construir S.A.²²

Local coverage places the Gerlein family in longstanding proximity to the Daes family and to Tecnoglass. In January 2016, Colombian journal La Chachara named Gerlein Villa (Echeverria’s son) as “one of Tecnoglass’ main clients.” La Chachara also covered the opening of Tecnoglass’ Barranquilla facility, hosted by Jose and Christian Daes.²³ Photographs place Gerlein and his son on-site at the opening, with Villa photographed alongside A Construir’s Luis Eduardo Barrios Lopez.²⁴

Source: La Chachara

The youngest Julio Gerlein is even Facebook friends with both Jose (“Yuyo”) Daes and his son, Nicolas Daes.

Source: Facebook

Daes Tied Up in Alleged Triple A Corruption, which “Yogi Bear” Now Pledges to Expose

Recall that Hector Amaris also pledged to expose the “Triple A” case. We believe this case presents a particularly acute risk to the Daes brothers, and Tecnoglass, by extension, as CEO Jose Daes was alleged to be both one of the primary orchestrators and beneficiaries of the scheme.

Source: February 2025 Press Release / Letter from Hector Amaris (translated)

Triple A S.A. E.S.P. (“Triple A”) is Barranquilla’s water supply and sanitation utility, which was historically owned by Spain’s “Inassa” group, but re-claimed (seized) by Colombia in 2018 after an investigation found that Inassa insiders had embezzled from Triple A by creating “fake contracts” with shell companies tied to insiders.

In December 2021, under Mayor Jaime Pumarejo, having re-claimed Triple A, Barranquilla then sold 34% of Triple A via an “early disposal mechanism” to a private consortium which effectively took an equity stake by, in the city’s words, “contributing the money in exchange for future profits.”²⁵

Source: barranquilla.gov.co

The deal reportedly valued Triple A at a COP $565 billion valuation. However, Colombia’s Sociedad de Activos Especiales (“SAS”) valued Triple A at COP $2.4 billion, multiples of the sale valuation.

While not named explicitly at the time of the sale, the Daes brothers were revealed to be beneficiaries of the 34%, alongside William Velez.²⁶ Tecnoglass filings disclosed the Daes ownership in Barranquilla Capital de Luz (“Alubaq”), the private 34% consortium, held within their red-light ticketing business, Alutrafic.²⁷

The Triple A deal was thus characterized by media as a “gift” to William Velez and the Daes:

“The Barranquilla Triple A deal that Duque blessed: from a ‘dark chapter’ to a ‘gift’ of US$175 million under everyone’s nose to William Vélez and the Daes, so fashionable today,” was the headline of the business news outlet Primera Página.”

In August 2022, Alutrafic announced that it would cede its stake in Alubaq amid questions into its initial award, and in February 2023, Colombian President Gustavo Pedro ordered the transaction be reviewed by Colombia’s utility watchdog “to determine whether the company’s shares were sold below their value.”

In March 2023, Colombia’s leading investigative outlet SEMANA published an exclusive piece which included a 2016 video of Tecnoglass CEO Jose Daes speaking with Edmundo Rodriguez about “the value of Triple A, potential buyers, and the strategy the Chars could pursue to acquire it.”

Source: SEMANA

We Uncovered What We Believe to be Numerous Irregularities in the Company’s Financial and Related Party Disclosures

Despite Tecnoglass’ claim that its Special Committee found no evidence of fraud “associated with the related-party transactions referenced in the short seller report,” our research reveals numerous new areas of concern.

Tecnoglass’s related person policy supposedly “requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all related party transactions…” and yet the Company’s 2024 Form 10-K discloses a set of eight related party transactions. Notwithstanding these eight disclosures, we uncovered seven additional entities that we believe raise further disclosure concerns. ²⁸

Source: Tecnoglass 2024 Form 10-K

Tecnoglass Discloses Acquisition of Remaining 30% Stake in ES Metals for $5.5 Million. Colombian Corporate Records

In our view, Tecnoglass’ disclosures surrounding its acquisition of ES Metals appear inconsistent – if not outright impossible – based on our review of corporate filings.

ES Metals S.A.S. was incorporated in Colombia in December 2018. The company described itself as engaged in the “design, engineering, and manufacturing of architectural solutions in aluminum, steel, composites and other materials…” In late 2019, Tecnoglass acquired 70% of ES Metals, according to its sustainability report. Tecnoglass never disclosed the value of that deal, nor the identity of the sellers. According to Hindenburg, the majority owner of ES Metals at the time was Computodo MME – a Colombian shell, in turn owned by five children of the Daes brothers.²⁹ Tecnoglass has never explicitly disputed these allegations, nor provided an alternative explanation for what Hindenburg alleged was an undisclosed related party transaction.

Instead, in November 2023, Tecnoglass disclosed that the Company acquired the remaining 30% of ES Metals from a Colombian entity, Incantesimo SAS, for an aggregate of $5.5 million, with $3.0 million paid in late 2023 and the remaining $2.5 million paid in April 2024.

Source: 2024 Form 10-K filed February 28, 2025

However, we are unable to reconcile these claimed payments with Colombian corporate records.

Colombian corporate records show that the purported owner, Incantesimo SAS, was incorporated in December 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of another Medellin-based company, Iremia SAS. Iremia had been incorporated in November 2021. Each entity held registered capital of just COP $1 million (~$235 USD each).

Source: Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce (December 15, 2022)

While Tecnoglass discloses that it acquired the ES Metals stake from Incantesimo, neither Incantesimo nor its parent company, Iremia, appear to have reported any material assets approaching $5 million USD – not prior to, nor after the supposed payments from Tecnoglass. For the full year 2022, Iremia and Incantesimo each reported zero revenues, and total assets remained just COP $1 million (~$235 USD) each.

Source: Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce

In December 2023, Incantesimo voted to dissolve, and one week later (earliest subsequent financial disclosure) its filings disclosed zero assets apart from COP $2M (~$470 USD) in paid-up shareholder capital. Filings provide no mention of the supposed $3.0 million USD payment from Tecnoglass, nor the $2.5 million USD that would have remained outstanding, given Tecnoglass claims to have paid the second installment in April 2024.

Source: Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce

In February 2024, Iremia called an extraordinary meeting and similarly voted to liquidate. It had zero assets.

Source: Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce

Data from the Colombian corporate registry shows that Incantesimo SAS was fully cancelled on December 26, 2023, and that Iremia SAS was fully cancelled on February 13, 2024.

It remains unclear to us exactly how Tecnoglass could have paid $2.5 million to either entity in April 2024, given that both entities had already been dissolved, liquidated, and cancelled months ago.

Tecnoglass Claims Daes Divested A Construir in June 2022 Amid Corruption Allegations; Colombian Filings Show Anomalies; Tecnoglass Still Doing Business with A Construir

Tecnoglass filings imply that the Daes brothers ceded their longstanding ownership in A Construir in June 2022, as corruption allegations swirled around one of Barranquilla’s largest public works contractors. Yet nothing about Tecnoglass’s disclosures make sense to us. To us, it seems highly unlikely that the Daes would simply divest their stake in what was a key piece of their gaining influence in Barranquilla. Moreover, our analysis of Colombian and Panamanian corporate filings leads us to believe that the Daes simply still retain control of A Construir via proxy. In our view, this presents both disclosure concerns for Tecnoglass and fallout concerns for the Daes brothers as A Construir remains mired in corruption allegations.

Tecnoglass filings claim that in June 2022, the Daes brothers divested their stake in A Construir in June 2022 such that “A Construir is no longer considered a related party” by year-end 2022 disclosures:

“Affiliates of Jose Daes and Christian Daes, the Company’s CEO and COO, respectively, have an ownership stake in A Construir.”

• Form 10-Q for Q1 2022 filed May 10, 2022

“Affiliates of Jose Daes and Christian Daes had an ownership stake in A Construir through June 1, 2022.”

• Form 10-Q for Q2 2022 filed August 5, 2022

However, Colombian corporate filings don’t appear to show any material changes in A Construir’s ownership in or around June 2022 as suggested by the Company’s SEC filings.³⁰

Instead, in August 2023, A Construir filed meeting minutes that stated, “as the partners know, in June 2022, the company reacquired 39,804 shares equivalent to 80% of the subscribed and paid-in capital” and that “the rights inherent to the shares reacquired by the company were suspended.” As a result, the company cancelled the shares in August 2023.

Source: A Construir Meeting Minutes, August 2023 (Colombian corporate filings)

In a November 2023 letter to the Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce, Luis Eduardo Barrios Lopez claimed to be the new owner of 79.5% of A Construir, given that the Daes stake had been cancelled.

Source: November 2023 Letter from Luis Barrios to Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce

Colombian filings don’t appear to indicate any value of the shares reacquired, nor were we able to find any press coverage about the Daes brothers supposed divestment in A Construir – each of which we find strange considering A Construir’s well-known status as one of Barranquilla’s largest public works contractors. Instead, it appears to be “business as usual” at the mega-contractor, and many key Daes allies still hold or held positions at the company long after the Daes claimed to have given up control.

• Attorney Rugero Eduardo Ramos Lopez – originally appointed in April 2012 – remained on the board of A Construir as of at least its October 2024 shareholder assembly, and he claims to remain on the board He also appears as outside counsel for numerous Daes affiliated groups including Construseñales, Tecnoglass and Energia Solar, as well as Julio Gerlein’s Valorcon and the Char family’s Olimpica SA.

• Rodolfo Jose Espinosa Meola is President of Tecnoglass subsidiary Energia Solar and a board member of Tecnoglass SAS. He was originally appointed to the board of A Construir in 2012 and also remained in place until October 2024.
• Joaquin Francisco Fernandez Malabet was former CFO of Tecnoglass until 2017 and is currently named on filings for the Daes family’s Energy Holding Corporation. In an August 2021 interview, he stated of the Daes brothers that “we were childhood ” He was on the board of A Construir until November 2023. A Construir’s Panama filings continue to list Eugenio Rafel Malabet Posada as a director, and Eugenio Malabet continues to re-post materials from A Construir.

We note that in 2013, the Daes brothers were accused, and later separately fined, for having set up an astounding 359 straw man companies, in the names of Tecnoglass employees, as part of an election-rigging scheme.

Tecnoglass, meanwhile, continues to do business with A Construir, both as a supplier and customer. See that in February 2023, A Construir boasted of its role in constructing additional Tecnoglass warehouses in Colombia. From 2022 to 2024, Tecnoglass disclosed $259.4 million in PP&E spending, while the Company’s Barranquilla factory expanded from 3.5 million sqft to 5.8 million sqft.³¹

Source: Instagram @aconstruir_s.a

A Construir also uses Tecnoglass products. See for example that in September 2024, A Construir began construction of a new school in Barranquilla, named after the Daes brothers’ mother, reportedly “using materials and products from Tecnoglass.” The school is estimated to cost $28B COP (~$7M USD). Tecnoglass COO Christian Daes and Alex Char both participated in the groundbreaking.

Tecnoglass COO Christian Daes, Alex Char (Source: El Tiempo)

Given that Tecnoglass no longer reports A Construir as a related party, it is unclear to us exactly how much business is continuing to be done between the two parties.

Tecnoglass’ Director of Design Has a Side Hustle Selling Tecnoglass Windows. Import Records Show Shipments from Tecnoglass as Recent as April 2025 (Latest Available)

Samir Sabagh currently works as director of the design department at Tecnoglass-owned ES Windows, according to his LinkedIn and State of Florida building products records. However, in 2020, Sabagh also formed Alternativa Design LLC, according to Florida records. The entity remains active today.

Alternativa’s website, created in 2023, claims to offer impact resistant and hurricane windows for residential and commercial applications. The phone number listed on the website is the same listed by Sabagh on Tecnoglass’ new product submissions to Florida regulatory agencies.

Source: Alternativa Designs

Our review of import/export records reveals that Tecnoglass has shipped product to Alternativa Design LLC in various spurts from at least early 2020 through at least April 2025 (latest data available). The entity is never mentioned in Tecnoglass’ related party disclosures.

Source: ImportGenius

Alternativa’s registered address at 3560 Stewart Ave is a waterfront mansion in the Coconut Grove gated community of Entrada Estates. It’s been featured in music videos such as Currency, Lil Wayne, and Remy Ma’s “Where Da Cash At.” This seems to us like an odd location for an impact window business.

The home is owned by a Panamanian company, Kensal Development Corp. Each of Kensal’s directors are from the law firm Icaza, Gonzalez, Ruis & Aleman. Their representatives are named in thousands of other offshore entities named in the Panama papers. The home was listed for sale in 2018, but public records indicate Samir Sabagh has lived at the address since 2021.

Daes Extended Family Runs Panama Crystal Engineering, Which Proudly Claims to Distribute Tecnoglass Products

In October 2021, Daniel Cuello Daes formed PCE PANAMA CRYSTAL ENGINEERING in Panama. Daniel is the first cousin once removed of Tecnoglass CEO and COO Jose and Christian Daes. Daniel Cuello Daes claims to be President and CEO of PCE, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also claims to have been “Sales Manager” at Windglass S.A., detailed below.

In October 2021, Monica Daes (mother), Daniel Cuello Daes (son), and Monica Cuello Daes (daughter) formed Gydsa S.A. In July 2025, Gydsa changed its name to Panama Crystal Engineering.

Source: Panama corporate filings

According to PCE’s social media posts, the company acts as a distributor for Tecnoglass and its brand, ES Windows. Tecnoglass does not mention PCE in any related party disclosures, nor does it list PCE as a subsidiary.

Source: Instagram

Daes Extended Family Members Also Run Windglass, Which Imports Tecnoglass Products According to Import/Export Records

In July 2018, Daniel Cuello Daes, sister Monica Daes, and brother Luis Carlos incorporated Windglass S.A. in Colombia. Windglass social media posts suggest that it has been involved with numerous commercial and residential projects from late 2018 to mid-2025. Import/export records name Tecnoglass as a primary supplier.

Source: Instagram, @windglass_

Nicolas Daes – “Business Development” at Tecnoglass and Son of CEO Jose Daes – Runs Undisclosed Business, “Daeshop LLC” from Tecnoglass Headquarters

Daeshop LLC is a Wyoming company formed in June 2021. According to Wyoming corporate records, Daeshop is located at 3550 NW 49^th St, Miami, FL, 33142 – Tecnoglass’ U.S. headquarters.

Signing for Daeshop LLC in its 2024 annual report is Nicolas Daes Montoya, son of Tecnoglass CEO Jose Daes. According to Nicolas’ LinkedIn profile, he works in “business development” at Tecnoglass. The email address provided is nicolas@componenti.com. Componenti USA LLC is a disclosed subsidiary of Tecnoglass.

Source: Daeshop LLC 2024 Annual Report

Casey Rammell and Dee Rammell are also named as officers of Daeshop LLC. Casey Rammell runs a building equipment contractor business named Snake River MEP Complete. Dee Rammel is the sole managing member of a Wyoming company named Design Energy Engineering LLC. Tecnoglass never names Daeshop as a subsidiary of the Company, nor does Tecnoglass name Daeshop in any SEC filings.

Daniel Daes – “Analyst” at Tecnoglass and Son of CEO Jose Daes – Formed Glass Arch LLC in Florida. No Disclosures from Tecnoglass

Glass Arch LLC was formed in Florida in May 2023. Daniel Daes, son of Tecnoglass CEO Jose Daes, is the only registered manager of the entity. According to his LinkedIn profile, Daniel Daes has worked as an “Analyst” at Tecnoglass since 2017. He doesn’t appear to have ever had any other professional work history outside of Tecnoglass, and Glass Arch is not disclosed by Tecnoglass as either a related party entity or a subsidiary.