The Bogota comptroller and a House representative from the capital are barred from holding public office for 20 and 15 years respectively for fraudulently granting public contracts. The double sentence is the first in what is expected to be a number of disciplinary and penal convictions in the capital's biggest fraud scandal in recent history, which also implicates Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno and his brother, Senator Ivan Moreno.
Colombia's inspector general, who convicted the comptroller and the representative, said the behavior of both men in the scandal is like "an atomic bomb on public morale." According to testimonies, private companies were unable to receive concessions of public works without granting a percentage of the profits to Bogota officials. The officials also financially benefited from delays in the construction of, for example, the city's mass transit system. The corruption scandal has seriously affected the authority of the city hall; the socialist mayor can count on the disapproval of a record-breaking 85% of the Bogotanos, according to a poll released Friday.
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