:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/7K4CEEPFLFFOLP2OSBIQLOGLNI.png "The story of how Harvey Colchado made Mateo Castañeda believe that he supported Dina Boluarte")
Boluarte’s lawyer offered “protection” to Harvey Colchado. Photo: Infobae composition
President Dina Boluarte’s lawyer, Mateo Castañeda, will be preliminarily detained for 10 days for alleged influence peddling and criminal organization. Initially, it was announced that the lawyer offered benefits to PNP colonels Harvey Colchado and Walter Lozano, such as promotions and “protection”, in exchange for them doing everything possible for Eficcop to close the investigation against Nicanor Boluarte. However, further details of the operation complicate the lawyer’s situation.
According to a report by Epicentro TV, on February 8 of this year, Castañeda managed to meet with PNP Colonel Walter Lozano in a restaurant of the Pardos chicken chain. After praising him and comparing him to Colchado, the lawyer asked that Nicanor’s case be closed or referred to an anti-corruption prosecutor’s office in Lima where he could exert his influence as a lawyer. However, the employee told him to formally request the referral before Marita Barreto, who rejected the appeal.
Then, Castañeda sought out Harvey Colchado. To reach the then coordinator of the PNP Special Team, he turned to former minister Carlos Moran.
Castañeda, Morán and Colchado met on March 14 at the Pescados Capitales restaurant in Miraflores. For this, Colonel PNP acted as an undercover agent and was assigned the alias ‘René’, a pseudonym that he used years ago to infiltrate what was left of the Shining Path in Huallaga. The senior prosecutor Marita Barreto, coordinator of Eficcop, and the former minister were aware of everything.
In the file are the chats between the undercover agent ‘René’ and Carlos Morán, where they coordinate the day and place of the meeting with Mateo Castañeda. There is also the voucher in the name of the Castañeda y Menacho studio.
Special Agent ‘Rene’ Chat
Days after the meeting, La Encerrona revealed that President Dina Boluarte wore Rolex watches, which led the Prosecutor’s Office to open an investigation for alleged illicit enrichment. It is then that, according to the report, Castañeda contacted the former minister again to reinforce the bridge with Colchado.
On March 25, Morán, from Castañeda’s studio, called Colchado and he told them that he supported them and that he would provide confidential information about the case when he had access. It was all part of the undercover agent’s plan.
On March 29, the raid on the president’s house would be carried out late at night. However, minutes before, the PNP colonel sent a message to the former minister to record that he warned of the operation. Morán would not respond or communicate the information, as had been agreed. According to the report, they only needed that “proof” to make Castañeda and Boluarte believe that they were on his side.
On April 11, PNP Colonel Harvey Colchado turned 50 and, as is known, he uploaded to his WhatsApp status a photo of the birthday cake that was given to him depicting a raid. Then, the PNP Inspectorate created a new office and opened a disciplinary process with suspension from office. According to the report, this was evidence from Boluarte and his lawyer to demonstrate that they could instrumentalize the Police to cover up Colchado.
Despite everything, Castañeda still believed that he could negotiate with Colchado, so he again arranged a meeting through former minister Carlos Morán. This time they would meet on April 26, at the FAP Recreation Center.
The lawyer would ask Colchado to find “something” against the Attorney General, Juan Carlos Villena, and his deputy, Hernán Mendoza, in exchange for the “forgiveness” of the Government so that he would no longer be retired in order to anus. “Exchange figurines” was the phrase used by Mateo Castañeda, according to information from Epicentro TV.
Brother and lawyer of the president during the identity control hearing. Photo: Judiciary
At the conclusion of the identity check, Dina Boluarte’s lawyer, Mateo Castañeda, confirmed the existence of the different meetings, which he described as an “ambush.”
“I deny all charges. If there is something to investigate, it will be investigated, but this has been an ambush by Colonel Harvey Colchado, who has summoned me to two meetings through General Carlos Morán. […] “I attended those meetings without suspecting that this man was recording the conversations,” declared Castañeda.
“When the phone calls are investigated, it will be seen that it is General Morán who has been calling me insistently to meet with his godson, Colonel Harvey Colchado. (…) There they are going to determine that these meetings were fabricated, what they did to me was an ambush, it is a trap,” he added.