Community Service Work Aids Salon Owner Linked to Money Laundering Avoid Prison
The appeal hearing will be held on September 10; the Prosecutor’s Office insists the measure does not deter crime.
Judge Tulia Morelos Pardo substituted the 60-month (5-year) prison sentence imposed on Colombian Katerine Roxana Carvalho Hidalgo, owner of the ‘Donde La Parce’ beauty salons, with community service in the Juan Díaz Communal Board, a decision that has caused controversy among judicial and civil society sectors. Carvalho Hidalgo was convicted of money laundering after the Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed that she used a network of 15 salons as a front to launder more than $7 million. The businesses were located in areas such as Arraiján, La Chorrera, Calidonia, El Dorado, Vía Veneto, Brisas del Golf, Don Bosco, Las Mañanitas, 24 de Diciembre, and Albrook.
Decision Appealed by the Prosecutor’s Office
After the alternative measure was announced on Tuesday, September 2, the Second Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime immediately filed an appeal. They argued that the sanction fails to deter crime and could send the wrong message in cases of financial crime. The hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, September 10, before the Superior Court of Appeals.
