The Prosecutor's Office of Colombia has filed charges this Monday against the former Chief of Staff of the Presidency and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laura Camila Sarabia Torres, for alleged abuse of authority, coercion, and embezzlement, in relation to the supposed submission in 2023 of a domestic worker to a polygraph test to find out the whereabouts of an undisclosed amount of money that would have disappeared from the residence of the then Chief of Staff of President Gustavo Petro.
The Colombian Public Ministry has informed of the indictment through its social media, where it points out Sarabia "as the alleged responsible for the crimes of abuse of public function, aggravated illegal coercion, and embezzlement for use," criminal figures that correspond in Spanish legislation to abuse of authority, coercion, and embezzlement of temporary use, respectively.
According to the entity, "the evidence indicates that she would have intervened in actions related to the irregular practice of a polygraph test on one of her domestic employees, Marelbys Meza Buelvas, to try to find out the whereabouts of money that disappeared from her place of residence."
The Prosecutor's Office also emphasizes that "the decision to use officials and official resources to address a matter of a private nature allegedly exceeded the mission competencies of Sarabia Torres and other public servants involved, and constituted a possible abuse of power and position."
In response to these accusations, Sarabia has declared herself innocent and has stated: "I do not accept the charges narrated by the Attorney General," when questioned about whether she accepted the indictment or not.
The former minister spoke in these terms after declining to meet with her defense before responding, assuring that she already had "a decision previously consulted" with her lawyers regarding the position she would maintain regarding the crimes attributed to her.
The origin of the case dates back to May 2023 and, although the procedure seemed to have cooled down over the months, the Prosecutor's Office has now reactivated it with this formal charge. The initial investigations indicated that Sarabia would have resorted to agents of the security forces to transfer his son's nanny, Marelbys Meza, to a room in an official building, where she would have undergone a polygraph test with the aim of determining whether she was involved in the alleged theft of 150 million pesos (31,000 euros), despite the fact that in the complaint filed the amount indicated was only 6,500 euros.