former President Alvaro Uribe’s fixer left Colombia on Thursday, one day after the prosecution announced steps in criminal investigations against the self-proclaimed “gangstattorney.”
Lawyer Diego Cadena told W Radio that he had gone to Miami and stressed he would continue to cooperate with Colombian justice if required to do so by the prosecution.
Acting Prosecutor General Fabio Espitia told press on Wednesday that “decisions” in the multiple criminal investigations against Cadena “will be taken relatively soon.”
A day later, the mafia lawyer left the country.
Tensions rise in Colombia as top mafia lawyer set to testify in Uribe case
The mafia lawyer’s alleged tampering of witnesses in the case against the former president has put Cadena in tremendous legal trouble.
On Tuesday, Uribe admitted publicly that his fixer paid a witness after the Supreme Court opened a criminal investigation against the former president on fraud and bribery charges.
Cadena told Blu Radio on Wednesday that he didn’t believe it was “relevant to tell ex-president Uribe” he was paying witnesses while his client was being investigated for bribing witnesses.
Leaked wiretaps have indicated that Uribe put the mafia lawyer in charge of gathering witnesses for the former president’s defense.
Tensions rise in Colombia as top mafia lawyer set to testify in Uribe case
In one leaked wiretap, Uribe told Cadena to “proceed” after being informed about intents to seek judicial benefits for one of the witnesses who claim the former president and his brother formed death squads in the 1990s.
The Prosecutor General’s Office was investigating the mafia attorney on charges of influence peddling, obstruction of justice and impersonating an officer.
The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it had formalized the criminal investigation against the former president in which Cadena plays a key role.
Uribe did not immediately respond to his fixer’s trip to Miami in the middle of multiple criminal investigations.