A Bogota court ordered the arrest of Carlos Ramon Gonzalez, the former administration chief and the former director of intelligence agency DNI of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.
The court ordered the detention of Gonzalez amid an investigation into the embezzling of funds of disaster management agency UNGRD between mid 2023 and February 2024.
Judge Leonel Rogeles of the Bogota Superior Tribunal ruled there was sufficient evidence to jail Gonzalez while on trial over his alleged involvement in this corruption scandal.
Gonzalez has been accused of bribery because he allegedly ordered two former UNGRD executives, Olmedo Lopez and Sneyder Pinilla, to pay bribes to former Senate president Ivan Name and former House president Andres Calle.
At the time of these alleged bribes, Gonzalez was the director of Petro’s administration department. By the time he was indicted, he had become the director of intelligence agency DNI.
Petro and Gonzalez became allies in the 19809’s when they joined guerrilla group M-19.
According to newspaper El Espectador, the former top official has since left the country.
The UNGRD scandal has been the most damaging for the president, who was elected on a promise to combat political corruption.
Previously, a judge ordered the arrest of Petro’s former adviser on regional matters, Sandra Ortiz, for her alleged role in the bribery of the presidents of Congress.
