The evidence that led the Prosecutor's Office to capture Russian citizen Sergei Vagin was revealed

Last week, the capture of Sergei Vagin, a Russian citizen accused of having participated in the Colombian protests that took place during the days of the national strike, was reported. Against him are fourteen months of interceptions that, as a result, left several hours of recording that are now the queen of the Colombian justice system to involve him in the crimes he is accused of. Blu Radio, in one of its most recent publications, highlighted some fragments of those archives.

In the first call recorded by the authorities, you hear who Sergei would be talking to a man about the need to receive another person in the organization. To get that person, 400 euros were paid, and 100 euros were offered for commission issues to those who helped to achieve it.

In the second audio, which takes just over four minutes, you hear two women talking about the consignment of a money and a sports betting company. Likewise, there is talk of the request for a card that would allow the appropriations of the bets and the winnings resulting from them. One of the women, in turn, talks about the inclusion of people from Mexico and Spain in the business.

This coincides with what the Russian said in his defense. “I do sports betting, I broadcast live because it was the best way to do it, as anyone can do and that's not a crime,” he argued.

What the Prosecutor's Office proposes is that the organization to which the Russian citizen belonged, sought to attract people, of Colombian and Venezuelan nationality, to lend their personal data, under the facade of sports betting, to move money from other origins through them. They are also accused of bringing that money from Russia and Ukraine, money that was later used to supposedly finance acts of vandalism that were committed during the protests against the government of Ivan Duque.

The gambling money, according to the Prosecutor's Office, was invested in Bitcoin, making it difficult for the authority to manage to trace. The goal of the Russian citizen, the Colombian authorities say, was to recruit people who would later be in the midst of social marches in exchange for bank loans and credit cards. In addition to the audios, Sergei Vagin appears in some photographs taken at the marches on November 21, 2020 and March 8, 2021.

In addition to the accusations that already fell on the Russian, a new accusation was added. The authorities claimed that he was suspected of offering a juicy bribe to a member of the Military Forces to obtain inside information on, among other aspects, the purchase of weapons by the Army.

According to the Attorney General's Office, Vagin had been seeking to obtain confidential information about the suppliers, routes, delivery points and distribution of military material for Colombia. According to the prosecutor, he would have offered an Army colonel 200 million pesos (about 50 thousand dollars) and the delivery of an apartment if he provided him with that information.

The Prosecutor's Office mentioned about the accusation: “Sergei Vagin, deputy or attached to the Russian embassy in Colombia, and of whom credentials granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Ministry are certified, offered this Colombian citizen, this Army officer, the sum of 200 million pesos and the delivery of an apartment” .

The lawyer in charge of the defense of Sergei Vagin, Javier González, indicated, in an interview with Blu Radio, that the allegations are false and that they have an 'armed film', to make captures. The Russian was captured with other Colombian citizens.

“Mr. Sergei has no relation to any of the parties mentioned, since he did not meet with any of the Russians, nor with the colonel, nor was he aware of the news about the purchase and sale of weapons and of secret situations of the Colombian Government that are mentioned,” said the defense of Russian Vagin.

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