Former Colombian Congressman Jose Gerardo Piamba was arrested Wednesday on court orders for involvement in a housing fraud scandal in the Cauca department, local media reported.
The Supreme Court of Justice had ordered Piamba’s arrest for alleged involvement in a housing project scheme called La Casita Azul in Popayan, Cauca, in southwest Colombia.
The ex-House representative is investigated because apparently through the sustainable development corporation Corpopaz, he helped to produce a fraud scheme that caused investors to lose their money and the homes that they were promised.
Piamba has claimed that he never had anything to do with the housing plan, but a number of documents may prove his participation, at least in directing the corporation.
The congressman, who in the past formed part of a commission investigating ex-President Alvaro Uribe, will have to respond before the Supreme Court for the charges of aggravated fraud, mass fundraising of money and illegal city planning.
