Prosecutor's Office dropped two of the accusations against businessman Carlos Mattos

The Attorney General's Office announced that businessman Carlos Mattos will face only two of the four crimes initially charged. He will be prosecuted for the crimes of bribery (delivery of bribes) and computer damage.

With this, Mattos will not be prosecuted for the crimes of illicit use of communication networks and abusive access to a computer system and computer damage. This is due to the notification of the Government of Spain that it considers that “these behaviors are not considered as a crime”.

At the beginning of the hearing, the Prosecutor's Office consulted the Colombian Foreign Ministry and the Department of International Affairs of the Prosecutor's Office, and asked for procedural breaks in addition to preclusion for the two crimes.

Taking into account the principles and guidelines of the extradition treaty signed between Colombia and Spain, which states that the person “may only be tried for the crime that led to the extradition”.

The businessman accepted the two charges that remained in force and will be convicted. In addition, for its acceptance, he will receive a reduction of up to one sixth of the penalty to be imposed.

Carlos Mattos could receive a sentence of between five and eight years in prison.

For its part, the businessman's defense indicated that if he had been charged from the outset by two of the crimes for which he was extradited alone, there would have been no wear and tear, extending the definition of the case.

It should be noted that, in the context of the criminal proceedings being carried out for paying millionaire bribes to officials of the Judicial Branch, to direct a guardianship action that he had filed in order to continue marketing vehicles of the Korean brand Hyundai in Colombia.

Another process remains in force against Carlos Mattos in which, according to his lawyer, he will also accept charges.

For his part, lawyer Francisco Bernate, representing the Judicial Branch as a victim, considered that the acceptance of charges is a positive step for the administration of justice. He warned that there was a risk of impunity as the charges began to lapse in October.

Because neither the Office of the Attorney General, nor the representatives of the victims and the defense of Mattos opposed the proposals of the Attorney General's Office, the 30th Judge of Knowledge ordered the closure of the case.

On March 16, the Attorney General's Office withdrew the two pre-agreements it had signed with businessman Carlos Mattos. One of the appeals was overthrown by a judge of the Republic, that is, the prosecution will not file it again. The other pre-agreement was withdrawn by the Prosecutor's Office.

According to W Radio, the prosecutor assured that an agreement with Mattos will not be re-signed and that there will be no principle of opportunity. These conclusions lead to the understanding that the entrepreneur should go to trial.

The judge in charge of reviewing the pre-agreement between Carlos Mattos and the Prosecutor's Office concluded that the penalty against the businessman was not well evaluated. Although the document indicated that he would have to serve 56 months in prison, the specialist emphasizes that he must be older. Mattos is accused of having bribed judges of the Republic to be favored in representing the Hyundai brand in the country.

In January 2018, it was when the Attorney General's Office announced an investigation into alleged manipulation of the process sharing system. The prosecutor found that Mattos and his lawyer had agreed to pay Judge Reinaldo Huertas for approximately $2 billion pesos (more than $580,000 dollars) to rule in their favor.

It was last March that the first obstacle was presented after Judge 30 of Bogotá did not admit the pre-agreement signed between the Attorney General's Office and businessman Carlos Mattos Barrero. He considered that four and a half years of imprisonment was not enough, since aggravating circumstances were not being taken into account. In addition, it maintained that important aspects were not taken into account to ensure the effective reparation of victims, which in this case are the Judicial Branch and the Attorney-General's Office.

This pre-agreement indicated that Mattos, with the aim of reparating the victims for the damages caused, undertook to deliver the sum of 1,000,000 dollars, of which 500,000 will be sent to the Executive Directorate of Judicial Administration and the remainder to the Office of the Prosecutor.

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