Colombian politician accused of public corruption may be hiding in Fort Lauderdale
Last edited Sat Jul 12, 2014, 01:14 AM - Edit history (1)
Colombian politician accused of public corruption may be hiding in Fort Lauderdale
Andres Felipe Arias is requesting asylum in the U.S. to avoid prison time, after he was found guilty of public corruption in Colombia
Author: Andrea Torres, Local10.com Reporter, atorres@local10.com
Published On: Jul 11 2014 04:27:17 PM EDT Updated On: Jul 11 2014 04:42:12 PM EDT
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -
A politician accused of corruption in Colombia may be hiding in Fort Lauderdale, the Colombian magazine Semana reported Friday.
The former minister of agriculture and rural development Andres Felipe Arias, 41, was under investigation for public corruption before he and his family left Bogota.
On July 3, he was found guilty of mismanaging funds in a program that was meant to provide subsidies for struggling farmers, but instead ended up in the hands of wealthy landowners. He did not appear in court July 18.
Arias contends that he is innocent and the charges are a merciless political attack. El Espectador newspaper reported he could face 18 to 33 years in prison.
More: http://www.local10.com/news/colombian-politician-accused-of-public-corruption-may-be-hiding-in-fort-lauderdale/26904372
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Convicted of corruption, Ex-Minister Arias seeks asylum in the US: media reports
Jul 11, 2014 posted by Daniel Medendorp Escobar
Ex-Minister of Agriculture Andres Felipe Arias is currently in the United States seeking political asylum, according to Colombian media reports released Friday morning.
The news comes just over a week after Arias was found guilty of embezzling over $25 million through an agricultural subsidy program called Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS).
Arias was nowhere to be found at the time of his sentencing, leading to suspicions that he escaped the country to avoid imprisonment, as had former intelligence director Maria del Pilar Hurtado, who also served under ex-President Alvaro Uribe. Reports emerged that Arias’s sentence may have been leaked two weeks prior to the announcement, giving the former minister time to leave the country.
Prosecutors successfully demonstrated that Arias had funneled state subsidies intended for poor farmers into the accounts of wealthy and politically powerful families, a beauty queen, and even former paramilitaries.
Arias was “on vacation” in the United States at the time of his sentencing, having been there since June 13 — the same day Colombian media were informed of a potential guilty ruling against him. Bogota-based Blu Radio reports that Arias’ protection squadron has not heard from him since July 13.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/ex-minister-andres-felipe-arias-united-states-media-reports/
[center]
Arias and his boss, former President Alvaro Uribe,
comically dressed in the garb of "men of the soil,"
from whom so much money and land was stolen.