The prosecution indicted the son of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro for money laundering, claiming that Nicolas Petro spent 10 times what he earned.
Prosecutor Mario Burgos told a Bogota court that his investigators found that Petro spent $407,344 (COP1.6 billion) in 2022.
This is considerably more than the income of the president’s son, who after his 2021 election as deputy in the assembly of the Atlantico province made on average $5,100 (COP20 million) per month.
Petro and his ex-wife, Daysuris Vasquez, reported no other income, according to the prosecutor.
Vasquez, who testified before prosecutors in March, testified that she and the president’s son received hundreds of thousands of dollars from shady figures for the 2022 election campaign of the president.
Among those who gave Petro and Vasquez money were, among others, convicted drug trafficker Samuel Santander and alleged mafia associate Alfonso Hilsaca, Burgos told the judge.
None of these contributions ended up in the president’s campaign treasury as his son allegedly spent the campaign real estate and business investments, Petro’s ex-wife allegedly testified.
To conceal the origins of the family’s income, the couple allegedly registered two real estate properties in the name of Vasquez’s uncle and a Mercedes Benz in the name of someone else.
Petro’s ex-wife did most of the financial administration as she “was more organized,” according to the prosecution.
The hearing also revealed that Vasquez had given her cell phone to the prosecution, which allegedly revealed that Petro’s ex-wife had been spying on her ex-husband’s new partner, Laura Ojeda.
Vasquez had allegedly hacked Ojeda’s phone in an alleged attempt to find out how Petro and his new partner had met.
The indictment against Petro is a major blow for the president, who was elected last year on promises he would combat corruption.