Gustavo Petro's situation worsened after his first-born son, Nicolás Petro Burgos, stated in an interrogation before the Prosecutor's Office that his father knew “perfectly well” about the irregular money that his campaign received.
The case against the Colombian president's son for alleged crimes of money laundering and illicit enrichment led the accused to decide to corroborate with law enforcement and reveal details about his father's corruption.
Although the statement was private, Semana magazine recently revealed some of the most controversial parts of the confession, where it not only implicates the president but also other people in his circle.
It had already been reported that the president's eldest son said that Petro's election campaign was financed with drug trafficking money. But this time, it was revealed that Gustavo Petro was aware that alleged irregular money entered his campaign.
The prosecutor asked Petro Burgos if the then-candidate was aware that Euclides Torres, who is allegedly in charge of executing public wiring concessions through “business camouflage,” contributed financially to his campaign. The accused responded: “ Yes, he knew perfectly well that Euclides was the one who financed the campaign.”
“I mentioned it to him several times, he knew it (…) when we traveled to events, Pedro Flórez always went, so he and I talked about the financing, which Euclides financed. [Armando] Benedetti always emphasized it in my presence, that it was Euclides who was financing the events and the campaign,” he added.
Petro Burgos also revealed that, although Benedetti, the former Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, brought Torres to the campaign, the one who served as an intermediary to receive the funds was Pedro Flórez, a current senator.
During the interrogation, the president's son assured that he had documentation to support several of his revelations, including audio, chats and even videos. However, since he had not kept his promise, the Attorney General's Office decided to ratify the accusation against Petro Burgos. The hearing against him will take place on November 20.
