Through a video of less than a minute, the former Secretary General of the Government Palace, Bruno Pachecoannounced yesterday his intention to “be a collaborator with justice”, assuring that he will tell the whole “truth” in the face of the series of irregular events in which he is involved.
The announcement occurred shortly after he appeared before the office of the Money Laundering prosecutor, Luz Taquire, precisely in charge of the effective collaboration process of karelim lopez. The lobbyist, in her denunciation, has already located the president peter castleto ministers and even congressmen in a corruption scheme for bidding for works.
According to sources from Peru21, Bruno Pacheco is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 am in the office of prosecutor Taquire, but as under investigation.
Castillo’s former right-hand man, who had to leave office at the end of last November after the scandal that unleashed the discovery of US$20,000 in the bathroom of his office, assured that, in addition to the “outrage and discredit” against him and the of his family, now he has also been the object of “death threats”.
“I am willing to be a collaborator with justice and tell the truth in all the cases that are linked to me. Rest assured that if anyone is guilty or innocent, I will say so. But it will be before a judge or a prosecutor,” Pacheco asserted, evoking with the latter the figure of effective collaboration.
After being immersed in several questions, the former palace secretary has previously denied having committed acts of corruption, alleging alleged political persecution. Even when he resigned from the position he assumed in July, he showed his “unconditional respect” to President Castillo.
However, in the video published yesterday, Pacheco said he believes that everyone has a limit, “and I reached mine.”
“That is why, without fear of being wrong, I affirm that my hand will not shake in pointing out guilty or innocent, in the only commitment I have for the defense of the people of Peru,” he said.
TO THE NECK
Pacheco is currently being investigated, in addition to the Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office, by two anti-corruption prosecutors. This is due to his alleged interference in the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (Sunat) and due to the tender for the Puente Tarata project in the San Martín region, where Karelim López is also involved.
In addition to this, at the level of the National Prosecutor’s Office, he is investigated together with the former Minister of Defense Walter Ayala for allegations of pressure for promotions in the Armed Forces and the National Police. And, since December, an additional investigation has been added against him for alleged illicit enrichment.
But everything is not at the level of the Public Ministry. In Congress, Pacheco has been investigated since the beginning of this month in the Oversight Commission, which investigates the lack of transparency in the meetings that Castillo had in the building of the passage in Sarratea, in Breña.
THE PROCEDURE
“The video is useless as long as he does not express that will before a prosecutor’s office,” stressed the former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio Maldonado, in dialogue with Peru21.
Maldonado commented that Pacheco’s actions do not reflect the regular procedure and that all this is something “sui generis.” He detailed, in this line, that he should first approach the office of a prosecutor who is investigating him, acknowledge responsibility and, as a second element, express that he can offer relevant information.
It is then that the representative of the Public Ministry, once the request for collaboration has been made, must assess whether it can really provide “valuable, pertinent, unique information, which could not be accessed by other means”; and decide if it proceeds or not.
“You should not necessarily expect a response in the sense that your request will be accepted immediately, because the Public Ministry has to assess whether, in the first place, there is a sincere willingness to acknowledge the crimes, but —beyond that— evaluating is if the information it provides is relevant,” Maldonado pointed out.
In the event that there is an approach in this regard this Monday, explained the former attorney, what would happen is that the statement scheduled as investigated would be suspended and the formal request would be received. “If none of that happens, the diligence has to proceed as planned,” he specified.
“Ideally, you should approach the Prosecutor’s Office that investigates the most serious crimes. Because that Prosecutor’s Office, of course upon receiving that collaboration, can share all that information with the other prosecutor’s offices at the appropriate time,” added Maldonado.
I KNEW THAT…
Through a provision issued on February 11, the former secretary of the Government Palace was included in the investigation that is being carried out for alleged money laundering, by prosecutor Luz Taquire.
In addition, on March 4, the businessman Zamir Villaverde and Fray Vásquez Castillo, nephew of President Pedro Castillo, were included in the same folder.
