The former coordinator of the Maldonado Police Headquarters, Fernando Pereira, was found guilty of committing six crimes, among which the abuses of functions that he incurred when he granted “favors” to the Colorado deputy Germán Cardoso when he was still Minister of Tourism stand out.
Through an abbreviated process, Pereira was convicted on Wednesday of abuse of functions, clandestine work, internal arms trafficking, disclosure of secrets, failure of a public official to report crimes and ideological falsification by an individual, and must deduct 24 months after the bars.
During the hearing, the attorney for the 2nd shift of San Carlos de Maldonado, Jorge Vaz, had recounted at the hearing the audios where Cardoso and the convicted person are heard talking about the granting of favors.
The penalty for Pereira is broken down into: 9 months of effective prison (in jail), 3 in house arrest and 12 on probation.
Additionally, he is disqualified from holding public office for three years and will have to pay a fine of 100 readjustable units, equivalent to about 136,200 pesos at today’s exchange rate.
Cardoso resigned his post as Minister of Tourism on August 20 – about a month after the scandal with the former police chief –
Favors between friends
Germán Cardoso asked the now convicted former police chief to carry out various special police procedures as a favor. This is clear from police wiretaps that were key to carrying out the conviction. At the time, prosecutor Vaz had said that Cardoso (then minister) “asks him to carry out certain actions at the police level” to which the police coordinator responded by arranging patrols.
“It is denoted that they had a friendship relationship, Cardoso asked him to carry out certain procedures, nothing illegal, particular issues and what we understand is that the coordinator skipped the procedures that any citizen has to carry out if he has such problems and used the State machinery at the service of these requests, ”explained Vaz.
In total, it was determined that there were nine requests by Cardoso and his family to PereiraAmong those that stand out the request that a seized truck with 100 kilos of cocaine be incorporated into the Mintur fleet, or that a police cell be sent due to the breakage of a glass of the car of the now Colorado deputy.
He also asked to know the name of the author of a telephone scam, to know if an injured woman had undergone spirometry and Cardoso’s brother called to request information about a traffic accident that a friend of both had had. The brother told Pereira that the woman “has the worst of it, since the lawyers are fixed.”
