Mayor Samuel Moreno, Suspended from Office for Three Months
(Image courtesy of : www.semana.com)
Bogotá, DC - Attorney General Alejandro Ordóñez pressed charges against the mayor on Tuesday stemming from the contract allocation scandal of the construction of the third phase of the Transmilenio public transit system.
Ordóñez decided to suspend Moreno from office for three months to facilitate the gathering of evidence from City Hall against the mayor before issuing a final ruling.
The District Attorney considers it “highly probable” that Moreno is the primary official responsible for the allocation of the construction contracts for the third phase of the Transmilenio transit system to the controversial Grupo Nule, as he is the highest ranking officer in the Municipal Government of Bogotá.
Charges were also brought against former Comptroller General Miguel Ángel Moralesrussi, former Congressman Germán Olano and the mayor’s brother, Senator Iván Moreno.
Former employees of Grupo Nule testified that Moralesrussi, Olano, the mayor and his brother demanded a kickback of six percent of the value of the awarded contract.
However, the Attorney General did not mention the alleged bribery, but rather the status of the construction projects. “For example, even though the work execution contracts were awarded in 2009, today, in some cases, 0% of the proposed projects have been carried out,” added Ordóñez, defending the decision to suspend Moreno from office.
(Source: El Espectador)
