Within the framework of the investigations being carried out by the justice system for the Risk Management corruption scandal, which has several officials and former officials of the Petro government on the ropes, the Supreme Court of Justice carried out this week a surprise inspection of the Ministry of Finance.
According to what was known, said procedure was carried out on December 10 and there the officials in charge concentrated on requiring documents related to the contracting and management of that portfolio, both with regional entities and with other State agencies.
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From the Ministry of Finance, they confirmed this meeting and said that the visit was attended by their different work teams, who gave the delegates all the elements that were requested by them.
Meanwhile, they reiterated their availability to assist all control entities, not only to the Supreme Court of Justice, but to anyone who requires it, in order to explain their efforts, both in the Ricardo Bonilla era and in previous administrations, and to make available all the information they require.
Supreme Court of Justice
Within what has been known so far, the delegates of the high court took computers from key officials in the entity and reviewed the equipment of some others. This happens days after similar investigations were carried out in the Congress of the Republic.
The intention of the Supreme Court of Justice, apparently, would be to establish whether the Minhacienda authorized credit operations that became bribes for some congressmen, in exchange for supporting the reforms that this government promoted last year.
Currently, the process involves legislators Liliana Bitar, Juan Pablo Gallo, Wadith Manzur, Julián Peinado, Karen Manrique and former congressman Juan Diego Muñoz, who little by little have had to appear before the court to give their statements on whether or not they are involved. in this scandal.
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What has happened in the case?
According to what has been known, this process also splashes the former Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla; the presidential advisor, Jaime Ramírez Cobo, and the then Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, who would have made an agreement to buy congressmen through contracts with the UNGRD for $92,000 million.
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The alleged express operation would have taken place in December 2023 and would have the objective of promoting the approval of international credits for the Nation that totaled a little more than US$1,000 million. According to the testimony, a key date in that process was the 6th of that same month.
María Alejandra Benavides, former advisor to the Ministry of Finance, told the Prosecutor’s Office that the Government needed the approval of the Interparliamentary Commission on Public Credit. However, that December 6, only one of the seven credits that sought the approval of legislators was approved.
To obtain approval of the remaining credits, a meeting was held to a last-minute meeting at the Ministry of Finance in which the three aforementioned officials were present and in which the alleged agreement was reached.
Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance and the former liaison of this portfolio with Congress, María Alejandra Benavides.
After this, resolution 3202 of December 11, 2023 was issued, with which resources were transferred to the UNGRD for 700,000 million pesos. From this amount, according to Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of the entity, 92,000 million in contracts would come out.
Benavides’ version would ratify what was previously stated by former Unidad officials: Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla, who are also involved in the case.
