Judge Leodan Cristóbal will decide this Monday whether to order preventive detention against the owner of Peru Libre, Vladimir Cerronfor breaching the rules of conduct that were imposed on him in the investigation that is being followed for money laundering.
Prosecutor Richard Rojas revealed today at a hearing that the former regional governor of Junín communicated with up to three witnesses in the case, despite the fact that he was prevented from doing so by court order since November 25, 2022.
One of the witnesses is Ruben García de la Cruz, who pointed out to the Prosecutor’s Office -last January- that he held WhatsApp conversations with Cerrón on December 28, 29 and 30, 2022. According to him, the former regional authority contacted him to find out the date on which he was summoned to testify before the Public Ministry.
Another witness is Clever Mario Mercado Mendez. According to Rojas, Mercado confirmed that he communicated with Cerrón in the last week of December 2022.
The last witness is Cliford Quispe Gamarra. Prosecutor Rojas said that he did not attend his first summons and before his interrogation was rescheduled, Cerrón’s defense asked his office that Quispe not testify and quoted verbatim the issues on which he had to testify, for what remains in evidence that there was coordination with the convicted ex-governor.
Cerrón Rojas’s defense, however, denied that his patron had threatened or harassed the witnesses. They also insisted that the former official already paid the S/20,000 bail – even if it was out of date – so it is no longer appropriate to evaluate the preventive detention required by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Judge Cristóbal maintained that he will notify the parties on Monday of the resolution confirming whether or not preventive detention is appropriate for Vladimir Cerrón, who is accused of having financed his political party with money collected by the criminal organization Los Dinámicos del Centro in Junin.
