The lawyer of former Colombian Senator Luis Alberto Gil was caught on video apparently bribing a witness to testify in favor of his client, El Espectador reported Tuesday.
The video, which was recorded at an airport in Virginia, U.S., on February 9 shows Ramon Ballesteros offering David Hernandez Lopez $100,000 to testify in favor of Gil, who is currently in prison awaiting trail on charges of supporting paramilitary organization the AUC.
Ballesteros allegedly threatened that if Hernandez Lopez did not comply, the paramilitary Rodrigo Perez Alzate alias “Julian Bolivar” would hurt his family, and said that he knew where to find them.
Hernandez Lopez said that he decided to play along with the plot, and the lawyer told him to tell judges that Gil had not met with paramilitaries in Hotel Chicamocha in Bucharamanga. Additionally, he was to say that it had been Supreme Court Judge Evan Velasquez who had bribed Hernandez Lopez to testify against the former senator, and not the other way around.
Judicial authorities requested a search of the lawyer’s office in downtown Bogota, which is expected to produce more evidence as to whether Ballesteros tried to bribe to witness or not.