President Gustavo Petro confirmed that he accepted the resignation of Carlos Ramón González, director of the National Intelligence Directorate, implicated in the scandal of the National Risk and Disaster Management Unit (UNGRD).
(You may be interested in: The Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation against the Ministry of Finance for the scandal in Risk Management).
Through a message on his social network account X, the head of State said that González’s position “As the person responsible for civil intelligence, he is incompatible with any judicial investigation and with the country’s justice system itself.”.
Finally he wrote that “For the peace of mind of prosecutors and judges, for their independence and good judgment and for the same work of defense of Carlos Ramón’s lawyers, the best thing is the separation from his position”.
I accept the resignation of Carlos Ramón, director of the National Intelligence Directorate.
His position as head of civil intelligence is incompatible with any judicial investigation and with the country’s justice system itself.
For the peace of mind of prosecutors and judges, for…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 26, 2024
Defense of the Ministry of Finance
For his part, this Friday President Gustavo Petro reaffirmed his vote of confidence in his Finance Minister, Ricardo Bonilla, who is linked to this scandal.
According to Petro, the actions of Bonilla, who was accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of having been instrumental in the awarding of three contracts worth 92 billion pesos to benefit six congressmen in exchange for their support to the Government, are no different from those of other finance ministers.
“I believe in the innocence of the Minister of Finance, because I know what all the Ministers of Finance have had to go through to maintain the macroeconomic stability of the country”said Petro, who is in Paris to attend the opening of the Olympic Games, on his X account.
(We also recommend: Petro, on accusations in UNGRD case: ‘Returning stolen property is essential’).
On Thursday, July 25, the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office charged former UNGRD director Olmedo López and former deputy director for Disaster Management of that entity Sneyder Pinilla, the main people involved in the corruption scandal, with five charges.
Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance.
EFE
The charges are for the crimes of aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime, aggravated embezzlement by appropriation, undue interest in the conclusion of contracts, ideological falsification of a public document and falsification of a private document.
The charge stems from the alleged embezzlement of $46.8 billion in the purchase by UNGRD of 40 tanker trucks to transport drinking water to desert areas of the Caribbean department of La Guajira, which was followed by other irregularities.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, based on testimonies of those involved, Olmedo López also coordinated with the Minister of Finance the distribution of contracts to congressmen in exchange for their support for the expansion of the government’s borrowing limit.
After learning of the complaints, the Minister of Finance said that he and his legal team continue “with respect and attention to the work of the Attorney General’s Office so that the country knows the truth and those truly responsible for the plundering of public resources”.
“I calmly await my day and my opportunity before the courts because my actions speak for themselves,” he added.
EFE
