Thursday, December 5

Supreme Court of Colombia asks President Gustavo Petro to declare a high-profile corruption case

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By Deutsche Welle

04 Dec 2024, 08:36 AM EST

The Supreme Court of Justice called the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, to give a written statement as part of the process being followed by the highest court against six congressmen involved in the corruption scandal of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).

The request was made by Judge Misael Rodríguez Castellanos, of the Special Investigation Chamber of the Supreme Court, who has investigated the actions of the congressmen who are part of the Interparliamentary Commission on Public Credit (CICP) in the corruption case of the state company UNGRD.

The notification indicates that, as part of the investigation “The President of the Republic, Dr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, was ordered to receive a statement through sworn certification.” through a questionnaire.

The Court called for investigation congressmen Esther Bitar, Juan Pablo Gallo, Wadith Manzur, Julián Peinado and Karen Manrique, members of the CICP, as well as former congressman Juan Diego Muñoz.

Manrique and Manzur resigned from that commission, which could not meet on Monday, November 2 due to lack of quorum, which puts the Petro Government in trouble, which is seeking authorization in Congress to request international credits at a time of difficulties with the budget.

The scandal over the theft of public money from the UNGRDthe largest corruption network in the current Administration, has involved nearly a dozen politicians who supposedly benefited from contracts to support the Government in the votes.

Payments of millionaire bribes

The former director of the UNGRD Olmedo López, the main person involved in the corrupt plot, has accused the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, of directing contracts to six congressmen in exchange for votes in Congress to approve initiatives promoted in Congress by Petro.

Bonilla, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, was decisive, in coordination with Olmedo López, in the awarding of three contracts for 92,000 million pesos (about 20.7 million dollars).

The Supreme Court of Justice also opened an investigation against the former presidents of the Senate Iván Name and of the House of Representatives Andrés Calle for this case.

Senator Name, of the Green Alliance, and Representative Calle, of the Liberal Party, were accused of the crimes of improper bribery and embezzlement by appropriation in favor of third parties.

The former deputy director of the UNGRD, Sneyder Pinilla, revealed last May that the UNGRD money was used in 2023 to pay millionaire bribes to Name and Calle.

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