Constitutional Court Magistrate Linked to Ungrd Corruption Scandal via Leaked Chats

Leaked chat logs revealed by Revista Cambio connect Vladimir Fernandez, a magistrate of the Constitutional Court and former legal secretary to the presidency, to Olmedo Lopez and Sneyder Pinilla, two individuals processed for corruption at the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Ungrd). The messages show that Fernandez provided the address of lawyer Irma Solangel Torres to Lopez, who then forwarded the location to Pinilla. Pinilla subsequently met with Torres at her apartment in the Pablo VI neighborhood of Bogota.

Details from the logs indicate that on January 9, 2024, Pinilla informed his partner he had to deliver money and later coordinated with Lopez via several phone calls. Fernandez entered the conversation when Lopez asked for the apartment number, and Fernandez replied with the specific unit and tower. While the logs place the meeting in a ten minute window, they do not explicitly confirm if money was delivered or the purpose of the encounter.

Fernandez maintains that he simply recommended Torres for a legal consultation. However, the investigation questions why Pinilla was the one to meet her. The Prosecution has faced criticism for not initiating an investigation against Fernandez. Fiscal Maria Cristina Patino explained that the evidence was limited by a controlled extraction agreement with Pinilla that only included 27 specific names. Former prosecutors consulted by Cambio have disputed this legal justification.

Outlets with a center lean focus on the connection between the magistrate and the corruption scandal and the failure of the Prosecution to refer the case for investigation. Outlets with a center right lean frame the event as a deliberate omission of evidence by the Prosecution regarding a suspected delivery of money.