Involved in tank truck scandal, he would talk about ministers and congressmen

But, in parallel, two of the main people involved in the scandal – Olmedo López, former director of that unit, and Sneyder Pinilla, deputy director of disasters – have sent signals about a possible collaboration with justice.

In fact, Pinilla was the first to raise his hand in search of a principle of opportunity, through his lawyer, the convicted former anti-corruption prosecutor Luis Gustavo Moreno.

And criminal lawyer José Moreno, defender of Olmedo López and brother of former prosecutor Moreno, has said that he will defend himself in court, but does not rule out taking the same path.

“I must say that with the protection of the truth, of my life and my family, many doubts that apparently have been maintained to this day would be clarified. (…) My previous friends are hurt that I break my silence,” Pinilla announced in an audio.

And although the Prosecutor’s Office assured that nothing has been agreed so far, EL TIEMPO established that Sneyder Pinilla – former mayor of Sabana de Torres, Santander and close to the Aguilar clan – is going to offer a list of at least 10 people linked to different UNGRD businesses. .

In fact, they assured that their former boss, Olmedo López, gave some clues about what is to come in the interview he gave to EL TIEMPO for the first time.

In this he said that the Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco from Payan, has many things to clarify. And then he added that he was a simple messenger.

And when asked if he could guarantee that neither he nor Sneyder Pinilla nor Víctor Meza from Cordoba, former deputy director of the UNGRD, had received bribes, he responded: “I can assure the country, the Colombians and Congress that due diligence will clarify all the facts.”

Among the investigators of the case there is talk of a bribe of 7.2 billion pesos only in the case of the tank cars. And that a high-level emissary went to collect them in cash.

And regarding Sneyder’s list, those close to those investigated told this newspaper that it would include two ministers and some congressmen.

In fact, they stated that the issue of the Health reform would be addressed, which although it collapsed in the Senate, was approved in the House of Representatives, in December 2023, with 87 votes for yes and 37 for no.

In this chapter a powerful politician from Córdoba is mentioned who did not respond to EL TIEMPO’s messages.

Regarding the reference that Olmedo López made to the Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, this set off alarms about a possible attempt to smear a key senior official, as a bill for the criminal complaint that the Government filed against López, Pinilla and Meza after the scandal broke out in the media.

Velasco was emphatic that it was the typical reaction of a thief, caught red-handed. And he also warned that during the month that he was in charge of the UNGRD he did not sign any contract or procurement. In addition, he requested that the assets of former directors and high-level officials be checked.

“If Mr. Velasco gave that instruction, it means that he ordered that one of his old political allies be investigated, who is the person who has been in charge of that entity the longest: Eduardo José González Angulo from Payana,” he told EL TIME a source familiar with the case.

González managed the entity when it was an appendix of the Government portfolio and during the Uribe and Duque administrations. In fact, he appears in an investigation by the Comptroller’s Office into the acquisition with alleged cost overruns of food kits for the pandemic, along with Luket SAS, one of the companies linked to the tank truck scandal.

“I know Dr. Eduardo and, obviously, at some point he worked with me. But anyone who knows about politics knows that I did not have quotas in either the Uribe government or the Duque government where I was in opposition. He (González) distanced himself politically since he became a militant of the Democratic Center,” Velasco told EL TIEMPO.

And he added: “I had nothing to do with his appointment in those governments. But it is evident that if they are going to investigate what happened in Putumayo and the handling of the San Andrés crisis, that investigation will concern Dr. Eduardo, who will know how to answer the questions that the authorities ask him.”

At the time of going to press, González had not responded to the messages left seeking his opinion on the subject.

EL TIEMPO also asked Minister Velasco about the purchase of several properties in Cauca to resettle the victims of the landslide in the Rosas municipality, in January 2023.

EL TIEMPO established that its portfolio and the National Land Agency (ANT) have participated in the purchase process of 11 properties, but the money will come from the National Fund for Disaster Risk Management of the UNGRD: 14,067 million pesos.

“Let them investigate all they want. Of course I have been putting pressure on people who have been living in some coliseums for a year and a half because the government promised to buy them some land. When I was in charge of the UNGRD, the community itself went to look for the farms. I asked that the IGAC appraisal be done to advance the expropriation. This man (Olmedo López) reversed the process and began to carry out a voluntary purchase and sale process, which can be used for many things,” Velasco assured.

And in the same sense he spoke out regarding the alleged interference of the UNGRD in the approval of the Health reform in the Chamber: “I do not define the affairs of the UNGRD. “I couldn’t get this man (López) to buy the land from the victims of Rosas, much less was he going to have any degree of influence on other issues.”

While the investigations progress, the new director of the UNGRD, Carlos Carrillo, continues to review all contracts and provide information to the authorities.