2023-05-28 07:01:00
The theft of a million-dollar sum of money ended up splashing Laura Sarabia, President Gustavo Petro’s chief of staff and one of the people closest to him, in an alleged case of abuse of power involving her husband, officials in charge of protect her and her former employee Marelbys Meza, who was hired for several months to care for that couple’s son.
According to a testimony given by Meza to Semana Magazine, Sarabia and the security men from the Presidency subjected her to pressure after the loss of a briefcase full of dollars in cash that the chief of staff had taken home after a business trip. .
As she narrated, Sarabia’s husband wrote to her one Saturday afternoon asking her to return home urgently to settle a matter. Once she arrived, she realized that it was a robbery in which she appeared as her main suspect.
Then, she said, she was taken to a basement located in front of the Casa de Nariño and subjected to polygraph tests to prove that she had not been responsible for the theft. Throughout this process, the Sijín agents and the presidential protection headquarters accused her of being a “thief and a liar” and even threatened to send her directly to jail and even to search her and all of her relatives.
“When I was in the basement, I felt kidnapped, dazed, drowning, waiting for them to take the polygraph,” Meza said.
They defend Sarabia en bloc
After the events, the chief of staff came out to defend herself, saying that she and her family had been victims of a robbery and that the Prosecutor’s Office “investigates whoever gave the version to Semana as responsible.”
Likewise, he insisted on a version that was later ratified by a statement from the protection headquarters: all, according to the text, “acted by applying the protocols within the framework of the law” and to protect the integrity of one of the most important officials of the government.
The scandal was such that President Petro himself came out in defense of his chief of staff, saying that “today was a day full of lies.”
For now, the Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it is conducting an investigation into the theft inside Sarabia’s house and that, in addition, it will provide protection to Meza, who claimed to feel at risk.
The theft of a million-dollar sum of money ended up splashing Laura Sarabia, President Gustavo Petro’s chief of staff and one of the people closest to him, in an alleged case of abuse of power involving her husband, officials in charge of protect her and her former employee Marelbys Meza, who was hired for several months to care for that couple’s son.
According to a testimony given by Meza to Semana Magazine, Sarabia and the security men from the Presidency subjected her to a kind of pressure after the loss of a briefcase full of dollars in cash that the chief of staff had taken to her house after a business trip.
As she narrated, Sarabia’s husband wrote to her one Saturday afternoon asking her to return home urgently to settle a matter. Once she arrived, she realized that it was a robbery in which she appeared as her main suspect.
Then, she said, she was taken to a basement located in front of the Casa de Nariño and subjected to polygraph tests to prove that she had not been responsible for the theft. Throughout this process, the Sijín agents and the presidential protection headquarters accused her of being a “thief and a liar” and even threatened to send her directly to jail and even to search her and all of her relatives.
“When I was in the basement, I felt kidnapped, dazed, drowning, waiting for them to take the polygraph,” Meza said.
They defend Sarabia en bloc
After the events, the chief of staff came out to defend herself, saying that she and her family had been victims of a robbery and that the Prosecutor’s Office “investigates whoever gave the version to Semana as responsible.”
Likewise, he insisted on a version that was later ratified by a statement from the protection headquarters: all, according to the statement, “acted by applying the protocols within the framework of the law” and to protect the integrity of one of the most important officials of the government.
The scandal was such that President Petro himself came out in defense of his chief of staff, saying that “today was a day full of lies.”
Until now, the Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it is conducting an investigation into the theft inside Sarabia’s house and that, in addition, it will provide protection to Meza, who claimed to feel at risk.
“The sum is not more than 7000 dollars”
In the midst of the scandal, netizens also questioned Sarabia what she was doing with $150 million in cash, since that was the figure that Meza had been told. Despite this, the official came out to clarify that it was actually a figure of less than seven thousand dollars and that, in addition, they had been paid as part of the per diem of the Presidency. “It was a sum in dollars corresponding to payments for official travel expenses made during August 2022 and January 2023 and that are delivered to us in that foreign currency. The traceability and policy of non-refundable travel expenses are under the responsibility of Dapre”, concluded Sarabia.
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