Bogota police have arrested a man wanted in the U.S. for stealing state funds when he was head of a non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon, the Colombian police announced Saturday.
According to investigations, Gerardo Mosquera Mena was CEO of a charity foundation dedicated to education in Portland when the government handed over $1.5 million to expand the organization across the entire state of Oregon
Mena took advantage of the trust he gained from the foundation and transferred over $1.7 million to acquaintances in Argentina, China and Colombia to avoid suspicion when he fled to Colombia in August 2009.
U.S. police then found a fake social security number which had been used to transfer various amounts of money to currency exchange facilities in Latin America and Asia. An investigation was launched into the whereabouts of Mena and police realized that the state funds never reached the foundation.
It is believed the money Mena stole from the state was used to open a seafood business in Cali, which became so successful that he planned to open a second shop in Bogota.
Police were alerted to his activities when he tried to secure a bank loan for the business.