Colombia: Alvaro Uribe's Sons Investigated for Fraud 

Colombia's attorney general is investigating a company owned by Jerome and Thomas Uribe, the sons of former President Alvaro Uribe, for fraud, according to media reports Monday. 

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The investigations are part of a larger inquiry by Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre to uncover nearly one billion pesos being defrauded from the state. 

“In this research, a company owned by the Uribe brothers was mentioned and the Prosecutor is conducting investigations to verify that information,”  Montealegre told Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper Monday.

He added that “in this case, as in all others,” the prosecutors have ensured that the investigations have “complied with all constitutional rights.” 

The Uribe brothers have denied this, claiming that they have been victims of persecution.

“These assertions are without factual basis whatsoever,” they said.  

“The statements by the attorney general Montealegre, both in the CIDH [International Human Rights Commission] and in the newspaper interview today, are a clear example of an illegal procedure, which has only sought to affect our right to a good name,” they told the press Monday. 

The brothers are not the first Uribe's to have a run in with the Colombian Justice system. Former president and former governor of the state of Antioquia, Alvaro Uribe, has been investigated for his ties with paramilitary groups and involvement in past massacres, while the Colombian Congress has also been investigating the current senator's role in illegal surveillance since early 2013 during his time in office. 

Uribe's brother Santiago was also arrested in February, accused of helping create and having ties with paramilitary groups, as well as other crimes. 

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