For the second time, Colombia on Thursday asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for a former top government official who fled the country amid a fraud investigation.
According to media reports, the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office filed the petition after fixing procedural errors that prevented Interpol from accepting the request to seize and arrest former Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo.
Restrepo, who was in charge of the demobilization of paramilitary and guerrilla units under the administration of former President Alvaro Uribe, has been charged with fraud over his alleged role in the fake demobilization of a non-existent FARC unit just before the 2006 elections.
According to National Police General Carlos Mena, Interpol’s delegate in Colombia, the prosecution failed to include specific documents necessary for Interpol to accept the request.
Restrepo disappeared in January, weeks before he was charged with fraud and a court denied bail while the former official awaits trial.
The Uribe aide is suspected to be hiding in the United States.