A Barranquilla judge sentenced two of the city’s former mayors to four years house arrest for embezzlement Wednesday.
Guillermo Hoenigsberg and Bernardo Hoyos were convicted for the misappropriation of funds on public housing contracts.
According to the judge, Mayor Hoyos granted a $2.8 million contract to develop a social housing project on a 1360-acre lot with 35 thousand units intended for poor families. Because the area was inadequate to carry out housing projects, the project was abandoned. The money was never returned.
Hoenigsberg was sentenced because he was the city’s finance secretary at the time.
Hoyos, a priest-turned-politician, is already in jail for another corruption scandal. The judge called on authorities to also arrest Hoeningsberg.