Prosecutor Mario Andrés Burgos, in charge of the investigation, affirmed that Nicolás Petro had made it known that the unjustified increase detected in his patrimony corresponded to resources delivered by two individuals questioned by the Colombian authorities. These funds then went partly into campaign funds and partly into his own accounts.
Last Tuesday, the president’s son agreed to collaborate with the Attorney General’s Office and deliver relevant information to clarify the case, after the judicial authority demonstrated that he had illegally increased his assets in the last year.
According to the prosecutor leading the prosecution, “in reality, the money with which Mr. Nicolás Petro increased his economic assets unjustifiably, some entered his coffers and others went to the 2022 presidential campaign in which our current president was elected. , Dr. Gustavo Petro”.
The resources to which prosecutor Burgos refers are around $270,000 which, according to the prosecution, were delivered by Samuel Santander Lopesierra and Gabriel Hilsaca to Nicolás Petro.
Lopesierra was convicted and extradited to the United States, where he was sentenced for drug trafficking. And Hilsaca is the son of Alfonso Hilsaca, who is being prosecuted for murder and criminal conspiracy in Colombia.
Prosecutor Burgos also affirmed that the son of President Petro promised to deliver audio recordings and documentary evidence that would corroborate that part of the money he received from these two individuals was used to finance his father’s electoral campaign without being duly reported to the authorities in the accounts of your candidacy.
Tuesday’s judicial hearing against Nicolás Petro was suspended after the president’s son announced his willingness to collaborate with justice and was resumed on Thursday in order to find out what the relevant information was that Nicolás Petro would deliver to the judicial authorities.
Nicolás Petro —who works as a deputy of the Atlantic Departmental Assembly, in northern Colombia— was arrested last Saturday in Barranquilla, a city in the north of the country. His ex-wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez, was also arrested that day. At Thursday’s hearing it will be determined if he remains detained or receives house arrest.
The investigation began after complaints from his ex-wife, who stated that Nicolás Petro had received money for his father’s presidential campaign but had kept those resources.
With the revelation of the president’s son, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation must now analyze what crimes could be configured in this case and who would be those possibly involved in the alleged irregularities.
On the other hand, the National Electoral Council, responsible for inquiring about the campaigns in Colombia, must advance in the analysis of the information provided by Nicolás Petro with a view to carrying out an investigation on the 2022 campaign in particular.
Finally, the Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives, in Congress, will also have to analyze the exposed data and determine the path to follow in the process that is already taking place there against President Gustavo Petro to determine whether or not he knew of the supposed income of those monies to his electoral campaign.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
