The fixer of former President Alvaro Uribe returned to Colombia to be heard by prosecutors on Tuesday about his role in the alleged fraud and bribery practices of his boss.
Mafia lawyer and self-proclaimed “gangstattorney” Diego Cadena returned to Colombia on Monday to comply with the prosecution order to attend Tuesday’s 9AM hearing.
Cadena was called in for a hearing after the Supreme Court ordered the prosecution to add bribery to the growing list of crimes allegedly committed by the mafia lawyer.
Colombia’s trial of the century: prosecution calls Uribe’s fixer for questioning
Pending criminal charges against Cadena
- Bribery
- Influence peddling
- Obstruction of justice
- Impersonation
The controversial fixer of the former president also asked to be heard, claiming that one of the witnesses who accepted payments from Cadena, former paramilitary fighter “Victor,” was extorting him.
Whether this strategy will work has become highly uncertain; Uribe reportedly admitted before the court that his fixer did not just pay witnesses, but also fabricated written witness statements, including that of Victor, who admitted to receiving money on the first day of the trial.
Furthermore, Cadena’s claim he was being extorted followed a previous claim in which he said the payments were “humanitarian.”
How Uribe’s fixer tries to avoid Colombia issuing an arrest warrant
While the reports coming from the Supreme Court about both Uribe and Cadena are damning, the mafia lawyer may have more luck with the notoriously corrupt Prosecutor General’s Office.
The United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) works closely with the prosecution and has reportedly refused to cooperate with the Supreme Court to gather evidence of Cadena’s alleged visits to US prisons.
The DOJ’s refusal to cooperate and Cadena’s attempts to sow doubt about his alleged criminal practices may be enough to avoid the formalization of the criminal investigations against him.
Then again, it may not. Uribe’s attempt to do exactly that only got him in deeper trouble with the law. If all goes wrong, the prosecution may order the arrest of the former president’s fixer once the hearing is over.