IBM Corp has taken out full-page advertisements in Argentina’s leading newspapers to deny reports it overcharged state bank Banco de la Nacion Argentina between $69m and $120m (CI Nos 2,733, 2,868). IBM said court-appointed engineers hired to estimate the cost of the project to modernize Banco Nacion’s computer system were unqualified for the job. Their report estimated the price should have been $129m and underestimated the number of people needed to implement the new system. IBM claims it also showed ignorance of the cost of bringing in experts from abroad, failed to include payment of certain taxes, and didn’t include provisioning for possible problems, IBM said. It noted that the daily Clarin reported that the state auditing office had said that the price tag should have been $180m.
