Colombia’s Prosecutor General has rejected a request from ex-senator Ivan Moreno to postpone his ongoing trial for corruption, reported Colombian media Friday.
Responding to a letter from Moreno, who cited a lack of legal representation and was absent from the court, Prosecutor General Alejandro Ordonez declared, “There are no valid excuses for not attending.”
Ordonez went on to say that there was no grounds for suspension, especially given that all witnesses involved in the trial had already been notified of the hearing.
Moreno, whose trial has faced regular delays since it commenced in March 2011, is charged with extortion, influence peddling and fraudulent contracting connected to a Bogota public works scandal.
He and his brother, ex-Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno, are alleged to have made personal profits of more than $5.5 million through the illegal awarding of public works contracts to the Nule Group, in return for a six percent commission.
According to the Nule brothers and their cousin, who were handed seven year sentences in December, officials involved in the scheme received more money if works were delayed, thereby driving up project costs.
Samuel Moreno also faces trial for his involvement in the scandal.