Suspended Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno did not show up for his first day in court for a public works corruption scandal, Colombian media reported.
The trial was scheduled to start Friday at 7:30AM but Moreno’s lawyer requested the trial be postponed. Moreno argued that because he recently fired his attorney Carlos Arturo Gomez Pavajeaou, he needs more time to properly prepare his defense.
The trial has been pushed back nearly a month. It is scheduled to re-commence August 25.
Moreno faces charges of embezzlement, extortion, malfeasance by omission and contracting without legal requirements, a combination of which could lead to 20 years in prison, according to former Prosecutor General Alfredo Gomez Mendez.
Moreno was suspended from his post as Bogota mayor in early May by Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez, after irregularities were discovered in the awarding of public works contracts to the Nule Group construction firm, who have also been indicted.