Senator Ivan Moreno has claimed he and his colleagues are being persecuted for corruption because the construction firm the Nule Group has a plan to sue the Colombian state for over $265 million (COP500 billion), reported Caracol Radio.
He also said that the Nule Group is filing for bankruptcy in order to pose as the victim in the case.
Ivan and his brother, Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno, are currently being investigated for their involvement in the allegedly fraudulent award of construction contracts to the Nule Group in exchange for payment.
The director of the Nule Group, Miguel Nule, recorded phone conversations that indicate the Moreno brothers along with other Bogota officials, former comptroller Miguel Angel Moralesrussi, and house representative German Olano, told Nule to pay them a percentage in exchange for a contract to build a new line for Bogota’s TransMilenio bus transportation system.
In a separate development, the Colombian Supreme Court has also ordered the investigation of corporate accounts and personal assets held by the Moreno brothers in the U.S., RCN Radio reported Wednesday.
Moreno’s latest claims came at a judicial hearing in Miami where he is set to meet the Nule Group face to face as criminal proceedings continue.
At this moment in time, the Nule Group are preferring to carry out hearings in the U.S. as it is where they are currently based. However, on Wednesday, the office of the Comptroller General in Colombia requested that they return to Colombia for all future proceedings to enable the process to move at a quicker pace, El Espectador reports.
Both Olano and Moralesrussi were banned from public office for 15 and 20 years respectively on February 25, 2011 for their parts in the scandal.