Colombia’s constitutional court president ‘sought bribe with oil company’
Colombia’s constitutional court president ‘sought bribe with oil company’
Feb 28, 2015 posted by Adriaan Alsema
Colombia’s constitutional court is going through one of the worst corruption crises in recent history after a magistrate accused the court’s newly elected president of having sought a $200,000 bribe with and oil company.
According to magistrate Mauricio Gonzalez, Court president Jorge Ignacio Pretelt allegedly asked the attorney of oil company Fidupetrol for the money in return of him making sure the company would not have to pay a $9 million fine.
Gonzalez was the presiding magistrate in the October 2014 case and had reportedly been warned about the attempted extortion by fellow magistrate and the court’s former president, Luis Ernesto Vargas.
Fidupetrol attorney Victor Pacheco allegedly told Vargas that he had been invited to the home of Pretelt ahead of the ruling. In this private meeting, the court magistrate allegedly had said that if Fidupetrol paid him $200,000, he would persuade Gonzalez to overrule a $9 million fine.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombias-constitutional-court-president-sought-bribe-with-oil-company/
