Two judges of the Republic, a court clerk, seven judicial branch employees and a law student were captured in an operation carried out by the national police and the Attorney-General’s Office for being part of a gang dedicated to influencing allocations of criminal proceedings to several courts in order to favor the accused.
The organization operated in judicial services center of Paloquemao, in Bogota, the largest complex of judges in the country, where Branch employees were put agree with individuals and defense lawyers so that certain process reached to certain judge.
For distribution of hearings influencing, those linked with the network paid millionary amounts in each judicial diligence. Thus, assigned judges granted freedoms unduly, ordering foreclosures without fulfilling legal requirements, substitutions of assurance measures without legal justification and negative of issuing arrest warrants while the beneficiary was entitled to them when really it warranted an intramural arrest, among other illegal determinations.
The Attorney General’s, Eduardo Montealegre Lynett, explained that “the investigate facts by the Office with powerful help of the National Police are that through the Administrative Services Center Paloquemao they would be directing certain processes to certain guarantee control judges with the alleged purpose that these decisions occur manifestly contrary to law.
“Also is researching the possible delivery of million-dollar sums of money these officials. The first phase covers these eleven judicial officials; but the Attorney being conducted simultaneous actions to determine whether it exists or not pairing of lawyers of some procedural subjects. It is a very specific very serious corruption fact in the judicial branch.”
In the operation, the authorities employed mechanisms as communications interception, selective search databases, inspections, undercover agents, tracking and other actions.
Furthermore, the National Police General Director, Gen. Rodolfo Palomino, said for the entity that directs it is satisfactory to have carried out this work together with the Attorney Office. “Were in the service of this investigative process special systems of evidence gathering that concluded with these arrest warrants. “The police has made this accompaniment to the investigative process.”
These people were brought before a guarantees control judge, they would have committed crimes as conspiracy for commit a crime, public documents falsification, aggravated breach of legal duty, bribery by giving or offering, disclosure of secrets and influence traffic.
The research was carried out during a year in which the administrative room of Judiciary Superior Council, the national police and the Attorney-General office worked together to finish with this corruption focus in the judicial branch.
The Attorney Montealegre said the investigation will continue to determine what were the decisions that occurred in this case to favor certain parties to the proceedings, “will specify the parts activities in such cases and where did the money for the payments.”