In July 2018while finishing his term as representative to the Chamber for the Amazon, Eduar Luis Benjumea Moreno was portrayed in telephone recordings talking about “his return”, demanding compliance and tickets to the National Planning Department (DNP) and to Treasury. These conversations, intercepted in a judicial process, are today the backbone of the accusation and call for trial that the Supreme Court has just issued against him, as EL TIEMPO reveals.
The recordings originate from a process of the Prosecutor’s Office 16 of the Specialized Directorate Against Corruption and they arrived at the Court in the file, which is being followed against the authorized persons Sandra Villadiego and Raymundo Méndez Bechara. Over there The possible impact of other congressmen was warned in projects of the municipality of Galeras, Sucre. Between call parties Former mayor Remberto Javier Amell Hernández was included. and a person called “Eduar”, who later He identified himself as Benjumea.
He On January 18, 2023, the procedural break was ordered to investigate Benjumea separately. He February 19, 2023, a preliminary investigation was opened and the January 25, 2024 the instruction was decreed. He was investigated on December 13, 2024 and July 10, 2025 It was decided not to impose an insurance measure.
Eduar Luis Benjumea Moreno, former representative for Amazonas. Photo:Courtesy
The alleged pact
For the Chamber, with a presentation by the magistrate Marco Antonio Ruedathe former mayor Amell would have agreed to pay Benjumea $500 million for managing the financing of a work of nearly $5 billion: a footprint plaque on the “Los Leones” road in Galeras, with resources from the OCAD-Peace. According to the order, this agreement would have occurred in the first half of 2018 and until July 19 of that year, and in its development at least $50 million would have been delivered.
The phrase that the Court considers most revealing is from a call from Salomon Mena Moyaintermediary of the former mayor. He says it to a person who was next to him before his interlocutor answered: “outside the 50 million pesos.” They have not given more to the RepresentativeAccording to the Court, this expression can only refer to Benjumea and adds that, according to the same call, “he is nothing tomorrow,” which the Chamber associates with the end of its periodhe July 20, 2018.
The calls and the doors of the DNP and the Treasury
He auto reconstructs a chronologywith dates and ID of each recording. This is stated in the indictment:
* June 28, 2018. On a call, Benjumea says “I turned around this man”according to the Attorney General’s Office.
* July 119:28 a.m. Angélica Gaitán Sandoval tells Mena Moya that “Eduar is already going to the Ministry” and that “that man must deliver with money today.” The Court interprets that “that man” would be Amell, not Benjumea. According to judicial police records, Benjumea joined the Ministry of Finance at 10:58 am and DNP at 5:12 pm that same day.
Former congressman Eduar Luis Benjumea, from the Liberal Party. Photo:Congress
*On July 11, at 7:56 pm in a three-way call a voice intervenes that Benjumea recognized as his own in the investigation. It is what the Court uses to maintain that He took steps and hoped that they would comply: “I was there where I told you I was and I need to tell you things, tell you and make some things clear. We crossed paths because where I had to make my return, they recommended that I go to where I told you I was (…). I need you to tell these people that, just as they are being fulfilled, they are also the same.”
The other recordings:
* July 16. In another three-way call, Benjumea complains with notable displeasure and warns that he will not run anymore.
* July 199:53 am He tells Mena Moya that he is “at the entrance.” Three minutes later, at 9:56, The records show his entry into the DNP.
The Court concludes that an indicative fact is established of the conclusion of the agreement. In a call from May 2019, Benjumea says he feels “bored” because I thought they were going to get some of that money back, “but no.” For the Chamber, that fits with the fact that did not receive all the agreed consideration.
Because The Court gives value to the recordings
He order affirms that all interceptions were lawfulwith subsequent control of legality by guarantee control judges. Law 600 of 2000 appliesunder which recordings gain evidentiary force with its incorporation into the file. He also maintains that transliterations have value by themselves, even without the audio.
Plenary Chamber Supreme Court of Justice Photo:Supreme Court
Regarding identities, Benjumea recognized his voice in all the calls that they showed him and accepted to be a user of the line completed in 1611. Mena Moya and Gaitán also recognized theirs. Amell remained silent for almost the entire testimonybut judicial police reports place him as a user of the intervened numbers.
Which Benjumea says and what the Court recognizes
In his investigation, Benjumea denied having received money and He maintained that the conversations with Mena Moya concerned to Amazon projects. He explained that his “return” was a favor to a DNP official to expedite the review of a project, and that “the entry” on July 19 was that of Congress, since it was “fucking around” due to the end of the period.
The Court, however, considered in its accusation that bribery and influence peddling are crimes of mere conduct: agreement and the use of influence are enough, even if the result is not achieved. “In summary, for the Chamber, the intercepted communications show that: (i) there was an illicit agreement between Benjumea Moreno and Amell Hernández to promote a project before national entities before the DNP and (ii) for that pact the first would have received at least fifty million pesos”says the decision.
He file is already in the Special Trial Chamberthat will advance the trial.
Juan Diego Torres Lasso – Justice Editorial
