Former Corficolombiana head gets 11 year jail sentence in Odebrecht probe

A Colombian judge sentenced the former head of Corficolombiana José Elías Melo to 11 years and nine months of jail time after finding him guilty of bribery and exerting undue influence in a trial related to the country’s investigations on Odebrecht’s bribes.

The judge in the Bogotá based court said that Melo “conspired with the public sector to buy out public morality.”

The ruling states that the former executive was aware of the bribes paid during the tendering of the now cancelled Ruta del Sol II highway concession and even participated in planning the payments to former deputy minister Gabriel García, who is now jailed for accepting the US$6.5mn bribe, RCN reported.

On top of the jail sentence the judge also imposed a fine equivalent to 174 minimum salaries and banned Melo from holding public office or celebrating contracts with the state for 159 months. The former executive has already said that he will appeal the sentence.

Aside from the conviction, the judge requested the prosecutor’s office to start inquires on other 13 individuals that were mentioned by witnesses in the trial, among them the head of Corficolombiana’s parent company Grupo Aval, Luis Sarmiento.

Sarmiento, as a witness in Melo’s side, said during the trial that he only found out about the illegal actions surrounding the contract through the press. Grupo Aval is now cooperating with the US Department of Justice, which is carrying a probe of its own on the cancelled concession.

So far 11 people have been convicted in Colombia for their involvement in Odebrecht’s bribes.