Former Miss Colombia Valerie Dominguez on Tuesday revealed how her former boyfriend beat her as she defends herself against corruption charges.
Dominguez stated in court that her ex-boyfriend Juan Manuel Davila hit her in the head during a trip to Spain.
She said, “On a trip we took to Spain, he hit me once in a head , the scandal was so obvious that several people realized in the hotel (…) for this he was arrested and I was sent to a clinic.”
Dominguez is among 22 people including her ex-boyfriend and his family facing charges of wrongly receiving government agricultural subsidies intended for poor farmers in the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS).
The beauty queen, who owns a jewelry business, reportedly received $163,000 tax-free for an “irrigation and drainage” project.
Davila reiterated on several occasions in court that Dominguez was at all times aware of the correct steps of signing documents and presenting evidence to be eligible for subsidies from the government.
He also said Valerie’s father, Alberto Dominguez, prompted her to get into the project. “He knew the challenges of the project that I was getting into…He gave the nod and that’s why he gave him the endorsement and was for that reason alone that the project was presented in the name of Valerie.”
The AIS program took place under the former president Alvaro Uribe administration, and was intended to decrease rural inequality by granting subsidies to peasant farmers. Former administration officials have been accused of corrupting the process by giving these government funds to wealthy land owners, beauty queens and political allies.
