The Prosecutor General’s Office accused the former director of Colombia’s tax agency of negligence during a public hearing Friday, El Espectador reported.
Nestor Diaz, director of DIAN during the Uribe administration, Colombia’s tax agency, was accused of negligence for failing to recover $21 million in taxes owed by the controversial Nule group who may have avoided paying taxes for five years.
The office accused DIAN of dragging its feet in dealing with Nule and stated that not until 2010 did DIAN attempt to recover the money it was owed or suggest criminal charges.
The Nule group has been accused of embezzlement funds during a construction project in Bogota. The chairmen of the group have all pled guilty to embezzlement. The scandal has also affected Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno who was suspended from office when he was implicated in the scandal, as well as his brother, Senator Ivan Moreno.
DIAN has been the site of much scandal in recent days as it was recently revealed that DIAN officials had embezzled as much as $4 billion a year through false VAT returns. Information released Friday indicated that the former chairman of DIAN was made aware of the fraud and was presented with the names of the front companies the officials were using. The DIAN officials have only recently been arrested
Other members of ex-President Uribe’s governement have sought to defend the administration from charges of incompetence regarding the corruption scandal and have castigated the DIAN officials.
“Clearly the Uribe government denounces the criminal structure of the VAT refund for fictitious exports,” former Uribe finance minister Oscar Zuluaga said Friday.
