Prison for theft in the government. In Colombia.
It's just the small arm of a giant octopus, President Juan Manuel Santos compared; the gang obtained 1 billion pesos (US$ 568 million) through scams targeting state-owned companies since 2004.
At least 12 people have been arrested for involvement in a multi-million dollar theft of state funds from Colombia's national tax collection office, President Juan Manuel Santos announced today. The case is just "a small part of a larger octopus," Santos told reporters in Bogotá.
The 12 detainees are accused on at least six counts, including criminal conspiracy, illicit enrichment, and money laundering, said Deputy Attorney General Juan Carlos Forero, who accompanied Santos at the presentation, along with other authorities. The president said that five more people still need to be apprehended in the case.
Santos reported that the investigation at the National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dian) began earlier this year. It is estimated that the mafia had been operating since 2004 and had amassed 1 billion Colombian pesos (US$568 million) during that period.
The president added that it was employees of Dian, which has 8 workers, who helped expose the scheme. The former employees falsified company records and export receipts in order to later claim refunds from the agency for these taxes.
Santos dismissed the responsibility of former Finance Minister Oscar Iván Zuluaga, who headed the ministry between 2006 and 2010, during the government of Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010). "The Finance Minister does not control, he is not above what Dian does," stated the president, who was Uribe's Defense Minister.