Two years after the scandal broke out UNGRDits main articulator, Olmedo Lopezstill has not received a conviction despite the fact that he has confessed to the criminal activities that he carried out together with other officials, in his desire to illegally direct contracts that benefited the Government in Congress. Two judges have denied him the preliminary agreement he reached with the Prosecutor’s Officein which he agreed, among others, to pay six years and two months in prison in exchange for accepting the crimes charged.
The last refusal occurred this Tuesday in the Superior Court of Bogotá. The Magistrate Alma Gertrudis Chamat Lozano He refused to approve the pre-agreement, warning that the legal requirements for this are not met. Especially with regard to the fact that López has not returned half of the money that was left behind by the criminal enterprise set up in the UNGRDsince the Prosecutor’s Office has not been clear in explaining how much money was lost.
Olmedo López confessed to having been one of the main articulators of the illegal network with which in 2023, through rigged contracts and bribes, the Government tried to pass its social reforms in Congress. He ratted out others involved in the scandal as Carlos Ramón González, Ricardo Bonilla and Luis Fernando Velasco. As a result, he received a partial opportunity principle -which translates into criminal immunity for certain charges-, however for other events he reached a preliminary agreement in which he paid fewer years in prison for returning 724 million pesos that he appropriated.
Olmedo López, former director of the UNGRD Photo:Supplied
The Prosecutor’s Office presented that negotiation on November 18, 2024 as one of its main results in this scandal. The other pre-agreements were for Sneyder Pinillawith six and a half years in prison and a refund of 618 million pesos; Luis Eduardo Lopez for six years and eight months in prison plus 7,722 million in restitution; Pedro Rodríguez Melo with four years and 10 months in prison plus 1,000 million returned; and Luis Carlos Barreto for three years and seven months in prison plus 150 million pesos.
The first refusal
Olmedo López’s pre-agreement was presented before Specialized Judge 5 of Bogotá, who in May of last year refused to approve it because the penalty for such a scandal was ridiculous, and because the amount that was going to be returned to the State was very low.
The former director of the UNGRD, Olmedo López. Photo:Weather Archive
The judge focused on demonstrating that not only was embezzlement in his own favor, but that there were two embezzlements in favor of third parties that, in total, amounted to 25.5 billion pesos. It was not just one embezzlement, but there were three. His own was for 724 million millionwhile in favor of others they were 13,446 million and 12,065 million pesos that have not yet returned to the State coffers.
For the court, “the Prosecutor’s Office starts from a considerable penalty for a lower amount and then proposes an almost symbolic increase for additional embezzlements that total more than $25,000 million”, which goes against the principle of proportionality.
Hearing of Olmedo López. Photo:Private File
Lawyer José Moreno, Olmedo López’s attorney, disagreed with the firm’s decision because he did not know the bases of award justice. “Today they intend to increase the penalty in light of the statements that were derived from their contribution. It prevents reaching the truth and those responsible. “We have to look beyond what is in the file and observe that he accepted responsibility with regret,” Moreno said.
The Prosecutor’s Office, which has María Cristina Patiño and Gabriel Sandoval -two seasoned prosecutors-, had the option of presenting another negotiation or appealing the one already agreed upon. He opted for the second and the case reached the Court of Bogotá.
María Cristina Patiño, prosecutor in charge of the UNGRD case. Photo:Private File
The Court’s arguments
Almost a year later, the Court ruled in the same way. In the hearing that took place on Tuesday afternoon, Judge Chamat stressed that in this investigation there is no consensus on how many embezzlements the former director of the UNGRD participated in.
For the judge there were three embezzlements, but according to the Prosecutor’s Office only two were charged: for 724 million and 13,446 million pesos. “The Chamber warns that this discrepancy is due to the difficulty that the Prosecutor’s Office has had in accurately determining the amount of the embezzlement, since in its different interventions it has indicated different values,” highlighted the judge.
Bogotá Court. Photo:Mauricio Moreno/El Tiempo
To give her verdict, she recalled that from what she was able to examine in the file, the extra cost of the contract for the purchase of 40 tank cars was 5,276 million pesos, and that in fact López received 724 million from that cut. Nevertheless, In the opinion of his office, the Prosecutor’s Office has acted incongruously because in different spaces the number of embezzlements and figures that are handled has varied.
“This situation, by itself, It is sufficient to disprove the pre-agreement, since there is no clarity regarding the crimes that the defendant accepts or the value of the appropriation.. “Such a circumstance not only affects the scope of the acceptance of responsibility, but also constitutes an indispensable budget for the correct dosage of the prison sentence and the fine,” says the Court’s decision, which criticizes the treatment that the Prosecutor’s Office has given to this issue.
judge gavel Photo:MAURICIO MORENO
The magistrate’s warning is that although López returned the 724 million pesos, he must return at least half of all the money that was appropriated with embezzlement in favor of third parties. “Consequently, to make an agreement with the accusing entity, once it determines the amount of what is appropriate for the benefit of third parties, what is missing must be restored to reachat least 50% of the total amount appropriated (both for one’s own benefit and for third parties), as well as guaranteeing the collection of the remainder,” the decision says.
In dialogue with EL TIEMPO, criminal lawyer Diego Gutiérrez explained that in this case “What the Judiciary says is that the victims are the communities and nothing has been done to repair that.. “He (Olmedo) believes that simply with the embezzlement of 724 million he already had, but in reality for the Judiciary it is not, which could constitute a double benefit because in addition to lowering his sentence, they are taking away a crime.”
Bunker building of the Attorney General’s Office Photo:Jesus Blanquicet. EL TIEMPO Archive
EL TIEMPO met with sources from the accusing body, who, given the double refusal, are considering accusing Olmedo López or presenting a new pre-agreement with other terms.
Carlos López – @CarlosL49 – carben@eltiempo.com
