Son of Colombia’s president is charged with cash laundering

BOGOTA, Colombia — The son of Colombia’s president was charged Tuesday with cash laundering and illicit enrichment at a listening to the place prosecutors mentioned he took hundreds of {dollars} from drug traffickers and used it to purchase luxurious houses and costly vehicles.

Nicolás Petro, 36, pleaded harmless to the costs, which have raised questions in regards to the financing of President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 presidential marketing campaign. But in direction of the top of the listening to he appeared to alter his stance, saying he was prepared to “collaborate” with prosecutors who’re additionally attempting to research President Petro‘s marketing campaign.

“I will do this for my family and for my baby who is about to be born,” mentioned the youthful Petro, who may resist 30 years in jail if he’s discovered responsible of cash laundering.

The investigation towards Nicolás Petro stems from a surprising declaration made by his ex-wife Daysuris Vásquez to native information journal Semana in March.

It comes at a time when President Petro is shedding reputation and has been uncovered to assaults from opposition events, which have develop into more and more reluctant to cooperate with the president’s legislative agenda.

In the Semana interview, Vasquez mentioned she was current at conferences the place Nicolás Petro organized a 600 million peso ($150,000) donation from a politician who was as soon as convicted in Washington for drug trafficking, and who wished to contribute to Gustavo Petro’s 2022 presidential marketing campaign.

Vásquez accused her ex-husband of pocketing the cash, and mentioned that Petro’s presidential marketing campaign had no information of the donation.

In Tuesday’s listening to, prosecutors accused the youthful Petro of utilizing illicit funds to purchase a mansion within the metropolis of Barranquilla, an expensive condominium and a Mercedes Benz SUV. They mentioned that he registered the properties below the names of relations to be able to keep away from investigations from tax officers.

Prosecutors mentioned that Nicolás Petro, who was a legislator representing a northern coastal area, would have wanted to earn ten instances his wage to be able to justify his bills in 2022.

Prosecutors additionally accused Vásquez of co-operating within the cash laundering scheme, and mentioned she helped her husband conceal hundreds of {dollars} in money in suitcases that the couple stored at their residence.

The couple, who now not stay collectively, had been arrested on Saturday night time and have been held on the headquarters of the Chief Prosecutor’s workplace in Bogota, from the place they attended Tuesday’s listening to.

President Petro mentioned that he wouldn’t intrude with the investigation, and wrote a message on X, the platform previously often known as Twitter, wherein he mentioned he hoped his son would “reflect on his mistakes.”

The president was hit by one other corruption scandal in June, when his former ambassador to Venezuela mentioned in voice messages that Petro’s presidential marketing campaign broke finance limits, and hinted that it may have acquired cash from drug traffickers. Petro denied these costs and mentioned that each one donations to his presidential marketing campaign had been fastidiously scrutinized.

The scandals have dented Petro’s reputation amongst voters in Colombia, the place incidents linking political campaigns to drug traffickers carry again recollections of the Nineteen Nineties, a violent decade wherein a former president was accused of taking cash from the Cali cartel and had his U.S. visa cancelled.