(Bloomberg) -- Colombian finance minister Ricardo Bonilla denied any wrongdoing and said he won’t resign after prosecutors mentioned him in an embezzlement probe.
Bonilla told Noticias Caracol that he is asking prosecutors to let him show that he had no part in corruption involving former officials at the government’s risk management agency.
“I am asking the Attorney General’s Office to listen to me. There is no wrongdoing here,” Bonilla said in an interview broadcast Thursday.
On Thursday, a prosecutor said in a hearing that the top two officials at the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) had coordinated with Bonilla to reroute public money for some municipalities that supposedly had climate emergencies.
Prosecutors haven’t formally accused Bonilla of any crime and President Gustavo Petro said he believes in his minister’s innocence.
Credicorp Capital wrote a note to clients that “markets will keep an eye on the investigations since Minister Bonilla has gained credibility among investors and a possible change of Finance Minister would be undesirable and unwelcome.”
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
