Bogotá's Superior Court has ordered preventive detention in jail for former Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla and former Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco over their alleged involvement in a corruption scheme at UNGRD and INVIAS. Magistrate Aura Alexandra Rosero Baquero found sufficient evidence to infer their role in a high-level criminal network that directed contracts in exchange for political support. President Gustavo Petro defended Bonilla, calling him 'naive,' amid a deepening political crisis.
On December 18, 2025, Bogotá's Superior Court, through Magistrate Aura Alexandra Rosero Baquero, issued a preventive detention order in a correctional facility against Ricardo Bonilla and Luis Fernando Velasco. Both former ministers face charges for their alleged involvement in directing contracts from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) and the National Institute of Roads (INVIAS) to secure congressional support.
The ruling was based on evidentiary elements indicating a 'criminal pact' originating from high levels of government. According to the decision, this network used pension and health reforms as a pretext to build an illegal organization that infiltrated the executive and legislative branches. The Prosecutor's Office argued, and the court accepted, that the ex-officials led a structure that turned UNGRD and INVIAS into a 'slush fund' for paying bribes to congressmen in exchange for votes ensuring governability.
Seventy-four contracts were allegedly directed at INVIAS and five at UNGRD, totaling over 612 billion pesos, with at least seven projects executed. The case began with the probe into 40 water tankers for La Guajira, uncovering a broader corruption network. Key testimonies from Olmedo López, Sneyder Pinilla, and María Alejandra Benavides allowed inference that Bonilla and Velasco were 'heads' of the structure.
The magistrate rejected the house arrest requested by the Prosecutor's Office, deeming it insufficient given the severity of the crimes and their institutional impact. She warned that the network has not been fully dismantled and risks to the judicial process persist. President Gustavo Petro responded by defending Bonilla as 'naive' and avoided mentioning Velasco, as the scandal implicates executive figures and exacerbates the political crisis surrounding the UNGRD case, one of the gravest in recent years.
