During the trial preparatory hearing that took place on November 6, 2025, in the criminal process being carried out against Nicolás Petro Burgos, eldest son of President Gustavo Petro, the First Specialized Judge of Barranquilla, Hugo Carbonó, authorized the inclusion of certain testimonies to be used as evidence in the case.
Among the statements that will be included is that of the representative to the Chamber Agmeth José Escaf, who was accused by the defendant of having received money from businessman Christian Daes, who was allegedly going to enter Gustavo Petro’s presidential campaign and also to favor Verónica Alcocer, today first lady. “The money came through Agmeth Escaf“said the president’s son in an interrogation.
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Thus, the judge indicated that “annex 35.11: sworn statement of Agmeth José Escaf Tejeiro, dated September 22, 2023” will be taken into account.
The congressman denied from the beginning that he was involved in these irregular events, for which Petro Burgos is being investigated, on charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment. In the statements he provided to the Attorney General’s Office, revealed by Snail Radio At the time, Escaf assured that it did not manage resources for the campaign and that it did not contribute money either.
Likewise, he released Daes and Alcocer from all responsibility. “Christian Daes never gave anything (…). Cristián Daes, as far as I know, does not know Verónica. I mean, personally, I think they have seen each other, well, at carnivals (…). Verónica was only in the campaign the entire time she was next to the candidate Gustavo. She did not run any parallel campaign of any kind,” the representative explained.
Likewise, the judge indicated that the testimony of the accreditation witness Juan Camilo López Linares, an official of the Judicial Police, will be included. Through it, a report from a field investigator is provided (FPJ11 of June 13, 2023), which will serve to refresh the memory of the witness in the oral trial, about queries made to some relatives of former drug trafficker and smuggler Samuel Santander Lopesierra, known as the “Marlboro Man”.
“Mr. Diego Alfonso Hilsaca Acosta, Cristian Alfonso Hilsaca, Patricia López Sierra Rosado, David Camilo Burgo, Germán Londoño MurilloMáximo José Noriega Rodríguez, Samuel Santander Lopesierra, Alfonso del Cristo Hilsaca, Mónica de los Remedios López Sierra Rosado,” the judge noted.
Nicolás Petro Burgos allegedly received illicit money ($1.3 billion) from the “Marlboro Man” and other people, which allowed him to increase his assets. Furthermore, part of those resources allegedly went to his father’s campaign, although he later denied having claimed that the money had been used for campaign expenses.
“I did receive some legal resources that were used for some goods (…). I took that money to buy a house. That is the reality (…). “I never told anyone that those resources were for my father’s campaign,” said the president’s son and former congressman from Atlántico in an interview with the magazine Change.
The prosecutor in the case indicated in a hearing that Petro Burgos’s assets increased, but that the National Tax and Customs Directorate (Dian) does not have a record of the money he received from the “Marlboro Man.”
“Mr. Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos did not report the acquisition of these monies to the Dian delivered by Mr. Samuel Santander Lopesierra through his daughter Mónica Patricia Lopesierra Rosado,” said the delegate prosecutor at the hearing.
