A report by Colombia’s comptroller general revealed evidence of money laundering in the financial transactions of disgraced public works company the Nule Group.
The report, according to newspaper El Espectador, identified the whereabouts of properties and vehicles belonging to the Nule Group, their movements abroad, loans from the company, their luxuries and excesses, and possible links with construction companies in other countries.
The report presented a list of 87 companies connected to the Nule Group. The comptroller found “identified expenses, such as accommodation costs, car payments, credit cards and money sent abroad, which had no relation to the contracts [for public works] for which advances were received.“
Money sent abroad apparently ended up in various accounts in the Cayman Islands, Venezuela, Guatemala, Brazil, London, and the U.S, among other places.
Based on the results of the investigation recorded in the report, the comptroller will request that the already imprisoned Nule directors be charged with two more crimes: money laundering and the illegal collection of money.
Manuel, Miguel and Guido Nule, as well as their business partner Mauricio Galofre, have already accepted charges for the crime of embezzlement, and are facing charges for the four crimes of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and falsifying private documents.
The directors have been charged on account of their involvement in the misappropriation of funds to carry out public works in Bogota’s major scandal, which also implicated various government officials.