The eldest son of the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petrowas summoned to court on Thursday by a prosecutor accusing him of money laundering over the possible infusion of money from drug trafficking into his father’s campaign.

“Mr Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos is being taken to courtProsecutor Mario Burgos said during an impeachment hearing before a judge in the city of Barranquilla (north), where the former counsel lives.

The prosecutor’s charge stems from the testimony of Nicolás Petro’s ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquezwho, after infidelity, accused him of receiving large sums of cash from Samuel Santander Lopesierra, convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.

Burgos has sued the president’s son, who was captured last July, for allegedly “acquire, invest, hide, conceal and give the appearance of legalityto money obtained irregularly, in addition to ‘unjustifiably increasing’ their ‘economic assets’.

According to the Public Prosecution Service Samuel Santander Lopesierra gave Nicolás Petro about 400 million pesos (about $102,000)such as Alfonso “the Turk” Hilsaca, a businessman accused in the past by the investigating entity of financing paramilitary groups and planning assassinations.

Part of the money would have gone to the 2022 presidential campaign and the rest would have been used by Nicolás Petro to live a life of luxury, the accusation said. The president denies that he used that money to come to power.

“Clear and accurate facts”

The votes from the Caribbean – where Nicolás Petro made his political career – were decisive for the victory of Gustavo Petro, who became Colombia’s first left-wing president in August 2022.

At next Thursday’s hearing Nicolás Petro’s defense requested that the entire trial against him be annulledalleging that the prosecutor is unclear in presenting the facts of which he is accused.

“The facts of the accusation were clear and precise and no guarantee was affected,” the judge in the case, Hugo Carbonó, said in rejecting the lawyer’s request.

Nicolás Petro was captured in July 2023 while in his home with his new partner in a media operation.

Initially, the president’s son said he was open to cooperation with the investigative body, but then he changed lawyers and decided to dismiss the charges. Now he will defend himself in court.

Nicolás has been on parole since early August and has denied that his father had knowledge of the income from this campaign.

Judges and congressmen

The president does not deny the accusations against his son and distances himself from Nicolás by ensuring that he will never be complicit in these crimes.

According to the prosecutor, Nicolás Petro bought several luxury goods with cash in 2022, including a Mercedes-Benz vehicle worth approximately $50,000; expenses that exceeded the salary he earned as a deputy at the time.

Gustavo Petro does not appear on a map of those involved presented by the investigating agency, but his wife and Nicolás’ stepmother, Verónica Alcocer, do. The president made no comment following Thursday’s decision.

For the same events, Gustavo Petro is under investigation by Congress, where he does not have a majority. Ultimately, the Legislature could impeach and remove him, though the process is so far in its preliminary stages. (JO)