The Prosecutor’s Office charged two people close to Víctor Carranza, who was known as the emerald czar. Apparently, the defendants had carried out illicit maneuvers to appropriate some 27 thousand hectares of vacant land in Puerto Gaitán.
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Some 27 people close to Víctor Carranza would have taken over those lands.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Unit is investigating the illegal appropriation of property in which the emerald czar, his trusted lawyer and a gemstone dealer would be involved.
The investigation shows that, allegedly, Víctor Carranza, through the lawyer Fernandel Alonso, received 26,939 hectares of vacant land located in the rural area of Puerto Gaitán.
Apparently, the negotiation took place taking advantage of a rule that empowered the former Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform, which today is known as the National Land Agency.
The rule in question was to deliver vacant land in the region to people who do not have property titles, with the commitment not to market them before 15 years.
Everything indicates that the lawyer Alonso, Apparently, he managed to get 27 people to appear as peasants before the Government of that time to take advantage of the law.
“To this end, you were in charge of delivering the Incora forms for the allocation of vacant land to people trusted by Víctor Carranza. You, Mr. Fernandel Alonso, in 2007, He was in charge of compiling the properties awarded by Incora and for this purpose he falsified 27 powers of award, of which 5 had already died.“said the prosecutor in the case.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the properties were in the name of Carranza employees: “The allocation of vacant land was made to names trusted by Víctor Carranza. Workers, cooks, drivers, surveyors, among others”.
The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the properties, years later, were sold and the buyers were citizens close to Carranza’s circle: a veterinarian, a bodyguard and three emerald dealers. Among them, according to the investigating entity, would be Jaime Rojas García.
“Now, the acquisition, Mr. Rojas, of the property included as the buyer was made based on irregularities that sought to give the appearance of legality to the properties that Víctor Carranza had and that in the Fourth Notary’s Office were reflected in the deeds,” he indicated. The prosecutor.
In the middle of the hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office charged the defendants as possibly responsible for the crimes of procedural fraud, illicit enrichment and aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime.
The investigation will yield more accusations for Carranza’s inner circle and employees of the Villavicencio notary office where the procedures were carried out.
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