BOGOTA (Reuters) – Nicolas Petro, the eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, admitted on Thursday that illegal money entered his father’s election campaign last year, according to the prosecutor handling the case.
Nicolas Petro, 37, was arrested on Saturday in the city of Barranquilla along with his ex-wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez. Vasquez was quoted in the media in March stating that two individuals with ties to drug trafficking provided cash to support the president’s election campaign.
“Mr. Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos provided previously unknown information to the attorney general’s office, revealing details about the financing of the past presidential campaign of the current president, Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego,” said prosecutor Mario Burgos during the hearing, where Nicolas Petro was present.
The information pertained to campaign funding that exceeded legal limits, some of which was not reported to electoral authorities, added Burgos.
Although Vasquez claimed that the president was unaware of the dealings, this scandal could impede the Petro administration’s efforts to pursue peace and surrender deals with armed groups, as well as its ambitious reform agenda.
According to the charges, Nicolas Petro, who is also a lawmaker in Atlantico province, received money from accused drug traffickers in exchange for including them in the president’s peace plans.
He has pleaded not guilty but expressed his willingness to cooperate with prosecutors. The prosecutors accuse him of using money that did not come from his lawmaker salary to purchase properties worth approximately $394,000.
If convicted, he could face sentences ranging from 12 to 20 years in prison.
(Reporting by Carlos Vargas; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
