• The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, reviewed the investigative actions carried out in the department since he took office.
  • In the most recent result, the former mayor of San Onofre and other people who were allegedly involved in irregular contracts were prosecuted.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, continues visiting the territories to verify the investigative progress in the prioritized work fronts to expose and prosecute those responsible for embezzlement of public resources in the regions.

In a meeting with the Sectional directors of the Atlantic Coast, he highlighted the results obtained in Sucre. Since February 2020, 125 people have been charged in the department due to the commission of different acts associated with corruption.

Among those investigated are 6 mayors and 4 former mayors, 14 contractors, 48 ​​public servants, a councilor and 52 private individuals. Most of these people incurred in irregular contracting or received money to favor someone specific in this type of process, among other illegal conducts.

The expensive drainage of a stream

A prosecutor from the Public Administration Unit of Sincelejo (Sucre) managed to prosecute the former mayor of San Onofre (Sufre) Mayda Balseiro López; and three other people for alleged irregularities in the execution of various contracts signed in September 2019, which were intended to guarantee the channeling of the Pajuil stream, in the rural area of Rincón del Mar, in San Onofre.

The evidence indicates that the contracting processes, which amounted to 2,5 billion were carried out directly under the ‘declaration of manifest urgency’ that lacked justification.

It was also established that public works were not fully executed, but all the money was payed. The accounting showed that the contractor allegedly invested 231 million of the budget that was handed over by the then municipal administration.

Due to these facts, the four allegedly involved in these anomalies were arrested by  National Police. The Prosecutor’s Office charged them with embezzlement, contract without compliance with legal requirements, undue interest in entering into contracts and ideological falsehood in public document. The defendants did not plead guilty to the charges.

In addition to the former mayor of San Onofre 2016-2019, the other people that will be prosecuted are the former secretary of public works of the municipality, Óscar Silgado Viloria; the inspector Edilberto Guevara Vásquez; the contractor José Pérez Portillo; and the former mayor´s uncle Sabas Balseiro Gutiérrez.

The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.

When we speak, results follow.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.