Ex-Prosecutor Accuses Fiscal Camargo of Order to Drop Petro Charge
Colombia · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —Who Lucy (Marcela) Laborde, the former delegated prosecutor, ex-fiscal tercera especializada, who ran the Nicolás Petro case.
- —The allegation Camargo ordered her in a meeting to drop money laundering and keep only illicit enrichment against Nicolás Petro.
- —The record A Semana interview around 22 August 2026, plus a formal four-page letter dated 22 September 2025.
- —The response The Fiscalía denied any order to eliminate charges; Gustavo Petro said on X that Laborde’s term ended and she was replaced by a career prosecutor.
- —What comes next A citizens’ watchdog filed a complaint with the Chamber’s Accusations Commission; no new filing by Laborde herself is confirmed.
A Semana interview and a four-page letter from September 2025 put the Fiscal General under fire over the Nicolás Petro case.
The former prosecutor who led the case against Nicolás Petro, son of ex-president Gustavo Petro, has accused Fiscal General Luz Adriana Camargo of ordering her to drop the money-laundering charge against him. The Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro allegations, made in a Semana interview published around 22 August 2026, echo a formal letter the prosecutor sent in September 2025 denouncing undue pressure. The Fiscalía has publicly denied the allegations.
Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro Allegations Aired in Semana
Lucy (Marcela) Laborde, the former delegated prosecutor — an ex-fiscal tercera especializada — who ran the case against Nicolás Petro, made the accusations in an interview with Semana published around 22 August 2026.
She described a meeting at Camargo’s office attended by delegated prosecutor Aura Liliana Trujillo, Vice-Fiscal Gilberto Javier Guerrero and Alexandra Ladino Pinzón, then the director of asset laundering.
According to Laborde, the Fiscal General asked her: ‘¿Por qué no le quita el lavado de activos y le deja el enriquecimiento ilícito?’ — ‘Why don’t you take away the money laundering and leave him the illicit enrichment?’ She said it was also suggested that Nicolás Petro could serve a long sentence in a military garrison.
The instruction, she said, was to abandon the money-laundering charge against the son of ex-president Gustavo Petro and proceed only with illicit enrichment.
The alleged meeting took place while Laborde was still the delegated prosecutor in charge of the file, before her removal and transfer.
‘I Was Not Going to Negotiate’
Laborde told Semana she refused the instruction outright: ‘Yo no iba a negociar’ — ‘I was not going to negotiate.’
She said she was then removed from the case and transferred to Barranquilla, far from the Bogotá-based investigation she had led.
The transfer took her away from the specialized unit where the case had been built.
She gave the interview after leaving the post, speaking publicly for the first time about the alleged order.
The Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro dispute now pits her word, as the prosecutor who ran the case, against the office of the Fiscal General.
A Paper Trail From September 2025
The interview did not come out of nowhere. On 22 September 2025, Laborde sent a formal four-page letter to Camargo and Vice-Fiscal Gilberto Guerrero denouncing ‘presiones indebidas’, undue pressures, in the case.
Among the episodes the letter described was the surprise appointment of a support prosecutor to the case through Resolution 33 of 8 September 2025.
The letter also denounced the removal of her investigative team, the group of officials who had worked the Nicolás Petro file under her direction.
Laborde’s letter left no doubt that she viewed those moves as interference in an active investigation, not as routine administrative decisions.
That document means at least part of the Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro controversy was formally on the record inside the Fiscalía almost a year before the Semana interview.
Petro Responds and the Fiscalía Denies the Allegations
Ex-president Gustavo Petro responded to the interview on X, stating that Laborde’s term had ended and that she was replaced by a career prosecutor.
His answer addressed the removal but did not engage with the allegation that the money-laundering charge against his son was ordered dropped.
The Fiscalía General de la Nación issued a public statement on 23 August 2026 categorically denying the account: ‘no hubo órdenes para eliminar delitos, ni presiones o coacciones’ — ‘there were no orders to eliminate charges, nor pressure or coercion.’ It said the accusation against Nicolás Petro for both money laundering and illicit enrichment remains in place.
In the statement, the Fiscalía said the meeting Laborde described took place on 5 September 2024 and fell within the Fiscal General’s constitutional powers of management unity and hierarchy. It said the only purpose was to examine a defense request — not granted — to change the legal classification toward a pre-agreement.
The entity also denied that Laborde’s exit was linked to the case, attributing it to a merit contest to fill 4,000 career positions and noting she received full institutional backing until her retirement on 16 July. A citizens’ watchdog group, Red de Veedurías Ciudadanas, separately filed a complaint with the Chamber of Representatives’ Accusations Commission asking that Camargo be investigated for influence peddling and procedural fraud; no new filing by Laborde herself has been confirmed.
What Is Documented and What Remains Allegation
Documented: the four-page letter of 22 September 2025, the Resolution 33 appointment of 8 September 2025 it protests, Gustavo Petro’s public response on X, the Fiscalía’s formal denial of 23 August 2026 and the watchdog complaint before the Accusations Commission.
Alleged: the order in the meeting at Camargo’s office to drop money laundering and keep only illicit enrichment, which rests on Laborde’s account to Semana and which the Fiscalía says did not happen in those terms.
Also from Laborde’s account: her refusal to negotiate and her subsequent removal and transfer to Barranquilla. The Fiscalía attributes her departure to a general merit contest, not retaliation.
Laborde has stood by both the letter and the interview; the Fiscalía has stood by its denial, insisting the case was assigned by lottery, remains under judicial control and keeps both charges.
The Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro case now stands as one of the most serious public challenges to the leadership of Fiscal General Luz Adriana Camargo, with the documentary record, the personal testimony and the institutional denial telling overlapping but distinct parts of the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Fiscal Camargo Nicolás Petro allegations?
Former prosecutor Lucy (Marcela) Laborde alleges that Fiscal General Luz Adriana Camargo ordered her in a meeting to drop the money-laundering charge against Nicolás Petro and keep only illicit enrichment, telling her he would serve the sentence in a military garrison. She says the instruction came in a meeting attended by other senior Fiscalía officials.
Who is Marcela Laborde?
She is the former delegated prosecutor, an ex-fiscal tercera especializada, who ran the case against Nicolás Petro, son of ex-president Gustavo Petro. She says she refused the order, and was then removed and transferred to Barranquilla.
Is there a formal complaint against Camargo?
Laborde sent a formal four-page letter on 22 September 2025 to Camargo and Vice-Fiscal Gilberto Guerrero denouncing undue pressures. After the Semana interview, the Red de Veedurías Ciudadanas watchdog filed a complaint with the Chamber’s Accusations Commission against Camargo; no new filing by Laborde herself is confirmed. The Fiscalía denied the allegations in a public statement, and Gustavo Petro responded on X that her term had ended and she was replaced by a career prosecutor.
Connected Coverage
Colombia Prosecutors Deny Pressure in Nicolás Petro Case
Nicolás Petro, son of Colombian president, released into house arrest
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