Nicolás Petro admitted that the electoral campaign of his father, Gustavo Petro, was financed by illicit money, according to prosecutors who are investigating the eldest son for money laundering. Prosecutor Mario Andrés Burgos, the leader of the investigation, has reported that the young Petro revealed that he had received money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father's peace plans. According to Burgos, the young man admitted that the unjustified increases in his assets come from two criminals detained in the United States, Santander Lopesierra, a man convicted of drug trafficking, and Gabriel Hilasca, son of Alfonso Hilasca, who is being prosecuted on homicide and activity charges. criminal in Colombia.
The money that these two drug traffickers would have delivered add up to around 270,000 dollars. The illicit money was divided between the accounts of Nicolás Petro and the campaign that made his father the first leftist president of Colombia. "Mr. Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos provided relevant information, until now unknown by the Attorney General's Office, about the financing of the past presidential campaign of the current president, Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego," Burgos said at the hearing where the son of the president was present.
On Tuesday, when the firstborn was accused of extorting thousands of dollars from drug dealers, the 36-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges but agreed to cooperate with authorities. Burgos assured that the president's son promised to deliver audio recordings and documentary evidence to confirm that part of the money he received was used to finance his father's electoral campaign.
Thursday's hearing was held to discuss whether the young man's detention should be changed to house arrest, due to his cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office. The eldest son, who previously worked as a legislator for the Atlantic province, has been accused of buying properties valued at about $394,000 with laundered money.
The police investigation into the president's son began with a shocking statement made by his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez, to the local Colombian magazine Semana in March of this year. Vásquez affirmed that he was present at a meeting where the young Petro donated 600 million Colombian pesos ($150,000) to his father's campaign, contributed by a Colombian politician convicted in Washington of drug trafficking, whose identity is unknown. .
However, the Prosecutor's Office also accused Vásquez of cooperating in the money laundering operation. Authorities have claimed that the young woman helped her ex-husband hide thousands of dollars in cash in suitcases that the couple kept at her home. The couple was arrested last Saturday and are at the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office in Bogotá. The charges against the firstborn could sentence him to up to 20 years in jail.
Gustavo Petro has said that he will not interfere with the investigation and, in a message on Twitter, expresses the wish that his son "reflect on his mistakes." The investigation and statements against Nicolás Petro have occurred at a critical time for the country. The charges against the firstborn could affect future peace negotiations between the president and the country's criminal groups.
