18 Colombian State Officials Accused of AUC Paramilitary Links

18 Colombian State Officials Accused of AUC Paramilitary Links
Published 18 October 2016


At least 16 former mayors and former hospital directors in the department of Magdalena were arrested Monday on embezzlement charges and alleged links with Colombia's main paramilitary group, supposedly demobilized during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe.

According to the attorney general, the former public officials were involved in the embezzlement of public funds—making up illegal public contracts—and had close links with the Northern Block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia in Magdalena.

The investigation started in 2006, digging up a corruption ring called “the Crystal Pockets,” after Colombian soldiers found documents at a property that allegedly belonged to the AUC unit, then led by Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, also known as Jorge 40.

Among the documents, the attorney general found a list of state officials who attended an important meeting in the town of Chibolo, which resulted in the creation of the political movement La Providencia Unida, also led by Jorge 40. During the same meeting, the participants outlined a strategy meant to infiltrate public institutions in order to maintain political and administrative control of the region.

Two state officials are still fugitives from justice.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/18-Colombian-State-Officials-Accused-of-AUC-Paramilitary-Links-20161018-0038.html