Colombian president’s son arrested in money laundering probe

By Stefano Pozzebon and Duarte Mendonca, CNN

(CNN) — The son of Colombia’s president has been arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment, the Colombian attorney general’s office said in a statement.

Nicolas Petro – a congressman in the Atlantico province – was placed under investigation by the attorney general’s office in early March over accusations that he had taken money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father’s efforts to broker peace talks with criminal organizations in the Caribbean region, CNN reported at the time.

Petro has previously denied the accusations against him saying they were nothing more than political and personal attacks that seek to destroy the work he had achieved his career, he said in a March 2 statement.

Responding to the news of his son’s arrest, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he was “hurt,” but guaranteed the prosecution procedures would be in accordance with the law.

“As a person and a father, so much self-destruction and the fact that one of my children goes to jail hurts me a lot. As President of the Republic, I assure that the prosecution has all the guarantees on my part to proceed in accordance with the law,” Petro wrote in his official Twitter account on Saturday.

Petro went on to wish his son “luck and strength” and reiterated his intention to not intervene or pressure the attorney general in this case.

Back then, the president welcomed the investigation, inviting the attorney general to get to the bottom of the allegations surrounding his son.

An arrest warrant was also issued against Nicolas Petro’s former wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez Castro, “for the crimes of money laundering and violation of personal data for events that occurred from 2022 to date,” the attorney general’s office said in the statement on Saturday.

“Those captured will be placed at the disposal of a Municipal Criminal Judge with the Function of Guarantee Control, who will be asked to impart legality to the search, capture and seizure procedures of material elements of evidence. In the same way, charges will be made for the aforementioned crimes and a measure restricting freedom will be requested,” the statement said.

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