17 assets of 'Phantom Memo' under precautionary measure of a judge

In recent hours, the Guarantee Control Room of the Bucaramanga High Court adopted the request of the Attorney General's Office and ordered a precautionary measure on the assets of Guillermo León Acevedo, alias Memo Fantasma, which amount to more than $26 billion pesos.

These would be 17 properties linked to 'Memo Ghost' and the Bolivar Central Bloc of the extinct United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which will be occupied under the measure of embargo, kidnapping and suspension of purchasing power.

Likewise, the Prosecutor's Office specified that the properties are located in the north of Bogotá, eight of them correspond to offices in the Tierra Firme building and that they are valued at more than $20,466 million; two offices and seven garages located in the Torre 85 building, which exceed $6 billion.

In addition, according to the prosecution's investigation, these properties would be in the name of two companies formed by alias Memo Ghost and their relatives, so they will be handed over to the Victim Reparation Fund.

It is worth recalling that last Wednesday, March 9, before a judge of knowledge of Bogotá, the Attorney General's Office formally accused Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo, alias 'Memo Ghost', for the crimes of aggravated money laundering, illicit enrichment and a concert to commit crimes.

The entity's investigation indicates that 'Memo Phantasma' would be related to the money laundering of more than 54 billion pesos of business from the Central Bolívar Block of the Self-Defense Forces. The accusation also linked the defendant's mother, Margoth de Jesús Giraldo and her grandmother Maria Enriqueta Ramírez.

The adviser to the paramilitary group has been held in Bogotá's Modelo prison since July 3, 2021, and according to Caracol Radio's knowledge, the preparatory hearings for the trial against him were scheduled for June 6, 7 and 8, 2022.

The radio station also revealed that the indictment says that Guillermo León Acevedo records an unjustified estate of $5,241,718,000. While his mother has an unjustified estate of $4,973,594,000 and his grandmother, he will have to answer for an estate of $1,654,189,000.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Acevedo Giraldo was behind the “criminal framework with the aim of acquiring and laundering money obtained from drug trafficking.” The research points out that during the decade 1997-2007 Memo Ghost became the main funder of this armed organization.

The Central Bolivar Bloc of the AUC was the largest paramilitary structure in Colombia. It was led by Carlos Mario Jiménez Naranjo, alias Macaco, who committed crimes and human rights violations in more than 80 municipalities in 13 departments of the country: Bolivar, Santander, Norte de Santander, Boyacá, Antioquia, Risaralda, Caldas, Nariño, Putumayo, Caqueta, Meta, Vichada and Huila.

The Single Registry of Victims established that during 1997 and 2006, the time of operation of this block and which coincides with the times of sponsorship by Memo Phantom, there were a total of 31,364 victims in the territories where it was present. It began in the south of Bolívar and almost in parallel in Santander.

The investigations carried out by the investigating body suggest that the former paramilitary commander, alias' Macaco ', had been a partner of Acevedo Giraldo in several businesses in Colombia and maintained links with Mexican cartels for acts related to drug trafficking.

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