Colombian prosecutors charge 2 ex-Cabinet members of bribing lawmakers for their votes

BOGOTA Colombia AP Prosecutors in Colombia on Monday charged two former members of President Gustavo Petro s establishment with corruption for their alleged role in a congressional vote buying scheme Colombian officers have launched a spate of corruption proceedings The former heads of Colombia s senate and house of representatives have also been arrested in connection to the vote buying scheme after they were accused of receiving bribes from Petro s administration According to the prosecutors former Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla and former Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco conspired with bureaucrats in two agencies to steer inhabitants funds towards companies linked to members of congress and their allies In exchange for contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars the members of congress voted in favor of statute backed by Petro s ruling body such as a amendment of the nation s pension system prosecutors mentioned The two former ministers were charged with criminal association bribery and undue conflict of interests in contracting and face up to years in prison if convicted Bonilla and Velasco have denied wrongdoing Petro has described the proceedings against his former ministers as part of a plan to destabilize his authorities I have the certainty that I have not committed any crime Bonilla revealed during the hearing in Bogota the country s capital The -year-old economist is a long-time Petro adviser and was finance minister for months until he resigned last year amid charges he had been one of the key players in the vote buying scheme The prosecutors say that the bulk of the funds that were steered towards members of congress and their allies belonged to a national agency in charge of catastrophe prevention whose former director is also facing criminal charges Source