Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has arrested the registrar for the San Martin municipality, located in the central department of Meta, for allegedly assisting a fallen neo-paramilitary boss in robbing government land, W Radio reported Tuesday.
Juan de Jesus Gomez Rodriguez was arrested based on accusations made by the Notary and Registry Superintendent Jorge Enrique Velez. He faces charges of ideological deceit and falsification of public documents in the awarding of a false title to a 42,000 acre farm belonging to the Colombian government.
According to Velez, the land was illegitimately taken by the now-deceased boss of neo-paramilitary organization ERPAC, Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero, alias “Cuchillo,” with the assistance of Gomez Rodriguez and other public employees.
The Guarcu farm, located in the Mapiripan municipality, Meta department, belonged to the Colombian government’s rural development agency Incoder, which is in charge of providing rural communities with the necessary tools for social and economic growth.
“This irregular inscription was revoked and the superintendency is moving forward the disciplinary investigation against the registrar and the notary of this municipality. The inquiries into the robbing of lands in other regions of the country have undergone a positive evolution and in the following days the superintendency will be able to know what other irregularities have been detected,” said a report from the Notary Superintendent’s Office.
