A woman accused of defrauding people with alleged housing aid from international humanitarian organizations was discovered

The investigations show that, apparently, she requested money to serve as an intermediary and speed up procedures.

The Attorney General’s Office identified the criminal modality that Mary Luz Rodríguez Rueda allegedly used to deceive people in Ocaña (Norte de Santander).

The evidence indicates that she allegedly offered false housing subsidies in the name of international humanitarian organizations and requested money to guarantee the aid.

The woman was arrested by the National Police in Ocaña. A prosecutor appointed to the branch office in Norte de Santander (Seccional Norte de Santander) brought her before a judge and charged her with large-scale fraud, small-scale fraud, and falsification of public document, all aggravated offenses; and falsification of a private document.

The defendant did not plead guilty to the offense and must serve a prison sentence. 

Rodríguez Rueda is accused of presenting letters with headings of the Red Cross, in which the entity supposedly authorized her to serve as an intermediary and claim the resources in euros that would be deposited from abroad to cover housing assistance.

In this way, she persuaded the interested parties to transfer her the money under the pretext of speeding up the procedures and guaranteeing the prompt granting of the subsidy.

Additionally, it was learned that she allegedly stopped the complaints against her by showing an alleged judicial decision that absolved her of a case of fraud and returned her a significant sum of money, which she promised to use to compensate the people who believed in the false offers to buy a house.

So far, six victims of this woman, who claim losses of 230 million pesos, have been identified.

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.