Colombia’s Supreme Court formally accused the former presidents of Congress of allegedly receiving bribes to secure their support for government reforms.
The formal accusation against former Senate President Ivan Name and former House president Andres Calle followed a preliminary investigation into the bribery allegations made by the jailed former directors of disaster management agency UNGRD.
According to the UNGRD’s former deputy director, Sneyder Pinilla, he gave COP3 billion ($667 thousand) to Name and COP1 billion ($222 thousand) to Calle while they respectively presided over the Senate and the House in the second half of 2023.
In return, the lawmakers allegedly vowed to support the 2024 budget of President Gustavo Petro, according to Pinilla and his former boss at the UNGRD, Olmedo Lopez.
The received money “apparently, would have been destined by the congressmen for the financing of campaigns for the elections of local and regional governments” in October of 2023, said the court in a statement.
Name and Calle have consistently denied receiving money from the former UNGRD directors who are on trial because they admittedly received bribes from a government contractor.
Lopez and Pinilla accused the former congress presidents and multiple Petro aides of involvement in the UNGRD corruption scandal as part of their attempt to reach a plea agreement with the prosecution.
The Supreme Court has yet to announce whether it sees merit in formally investigating other lawmakers who were allegedly complicit in the embezzlement of UNGRD funds.
Suspects who do not congressional immunity, like government contractors and administration officials, are being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
After the formal accusation, Name and Calle are expected to be summoned for interrogation over their alleged involvement in the corruption scandal in the near future.
The prosecution and the former UNGRD directors have yet to come to a plea deal that would allow reduced sentencing for Lopez and Pinilla.
