Authorities in western Colombia arrested another suspect in relation to the ongoing scandal surrounding alleged illegal wiretapping on the part of a presidential campaign contractor, reported national media Wednesday.
The Prosecutor General’s Office and Technical Investigation Team (CTI) captured Ecuadorian national Daniel Agustin Bajaña in the Candelaria municipality in the western state of Valle del Cauca, under suspicion of abusive access to systems of information, interception, and obtaining information for the purposes of espionage.
Bajaña himself has admitted in various interviews to working with previously arrested hacker Andres Sepulveda, a former social media contractor for the presidential campaign of Oscar Ivan Zuluaga (Democratic Center — Centro Democratico), one of the two candidates left after May 25’s first round election.
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In addition to intercepting communications between delegations to ongoing peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebel group, Bajaña stands accused of hacking the private emails of ex-Vice-President and former Zuluaga opponent for the Democratic Center nomination Francisco Santos.
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“He intercepted the emails of certain people and obtained privileged intelligence information. In the next few hours we will put him at the disposition of a judge in control of guarantees to legalize his capture, make attributions and request as an insurance measure that he remains detained in a prison centre,” said Julian Quintana, national director of the CTI.
Bajaña has admitted to having ties with hackers Andres Fernando Sepulveda and Rafael Revert, a Spanish national, both believed to be involved in the hacking scandal that emerged form the Zuluaga campaign prior to first round of elections.
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All three are under investigation for using illicit means, including bribery and intelligence hacking, to gain access to privileged information regarding the FARC peace talks and the FARC’s military movements.
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Sepulveda is currently being held in preventative detention in a bunker in the District Atorney’s Office in the east of Bogota, and has been caught on video discussing privileged intelligence with Zuluaga.
Sources
- Capturan a jacker ecuatoriano socio de Andres Sepulveda (Caracol Radio)