Through a letter from Colombia’s Minister of Justice, Andres Idarraga, to the U.S. Attorney General, Palm Bondi, the Colombian government is officially asking the Trump administration for the name of the person hiding under the designation “Colombian official 3,” supposedly a high-ranking official in Colombia’s judicial career system who allegedly held executive functions between 2010 and 2018, during the presidencies of Juan Manuel Santos.
Behind this move, which brings back into today’s political debate the controversy over the alleged entry of illicit funds from the Brazilian company Odebrecht into Colombia’s 2014 presidential campaign, is the Petro government’s interest in shedding light on a case that had implications in most Latin American countries and that also tainted Colombia a decade ago.
With the letter sent by the Minister of Justice, President Gustavo Petro’s government is reviving an issue that for years had lain dormant in public opinion: tThe alleged irregular contributions of funds from the Odebrecht corruption scheme to the 2014 presidential campaign. Although that link had not been publicly proven, the request seeks to dust off that chapter and demand clarity.
Colombia asks the US for information on who is ‘the Colombian Official 3’ in the Odebrecht scandal
In the letter that Minister Idarraga sent to the U.S. Department of Justice — and to a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland — he requests that the identity of the so-called Colombian official 3 in the Odebrecht case be disclosed. In that two-page document, the minister asks that the name of that person be provided to the Government of Colombia — or alternatively to the Office of the Attorney General — along with the documentary evidence needed to verify their identity.
The request is based on a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) signed in August 2023 between Corficolombiana (part of the business conglomerate Grupo Aval) and U.S. authorities: the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. In that agreement, it was acknowledged that Odebrecht and its partners paid bribes to high-ranking officials of the Colombian state, including “official 3.”
The letter stresses that this person carried out functions in the Executive Branch of the government between 2010 and 2018, and that their identity is already on file with U.S. authorities. Idarraga argues that knowing their name is essential for Colombia to advance in truth, transparency, and the fight against corruption.
“Colombian official 3” is a key figure in the version provided by U.S. justice authorities regarding the bribes paid by Odebrecht to Colombian officials to secure public contracts. He is described as a high-ranking government official — supposedly in the judicial branch — with duties between 2010 and 2018, a period during which the Juan Manuel Santos administration was in power.
According to what was documented in the deferred prosecution agreement, this person allegedly received multimillion-dollar bribes in order to facilitate the awarding of road contracts related to the Ruta del Sol project, a strategic highway corridor that links the country’s interior with the Caribbean.
The identity of this high-ranking official remains concealed in Colombia, which has generated uncertainty about who actually benefited from those corrupt payments. The current government’s request seeks to break that veil of impunity: It is believed that learning this individual’s name could help revive investigations, identify those responsible, and advance in accountability.
He solicitado a la señora Pamela Jo Bondi Fiscal General de los estados Unidos de América y al señor George L . Russell, Juez Jefe de la Corte para el Distrito de Maryland, informe a Colombia a través del Ministerio de Justicia, quién es el funcionario #3 en el caso impune de… pic.twitter.com/PcSQ2zr0PG
— Andrés Idárraga Franco (@Aidarragaf) December 4, 2025
Odebrecht case in Colombia, the long shadow of corruption in Latin America
The Odebrecht case in Colombia is connected to a corruption and bribery scheme that involved the Brazilian construction company in infrastructure contracts, primarily large-scale highway concessions. The Colombian Attorney General’s Office identified a network of irregular payments that, in total, exceeded 80 billion pesos (approximately US$21 million).
The fraud mechanism consisted of bribes paid to public officials to ensure the awarding of infrastructure contracts, particularly in the Ruta del Sol projects. Among those implicated are Odebrecht executives, lobbyists, intermediaries, and contractors; officials from the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) have also been charged for alleged irregularities in several contract amendments.
In 2023, U.S. authorities formalized a deferred prosecution agreement with Corficolombiana, in which the company acknowledged its role in the bribery scheme and paid a significant fine. That agreement also entailed judicial cooperation for future investigations.
Despite these actions, a crucial piece of the puzzle — the identity of “official 3” mentioned in the agreement — remains unresolved in Colombia. So far, that person appears only under that pseudonym, which has generated criticism over the opacity of the process and the resulting impunity.
The Odebrecht scandal and its implications in Latin America
The Odebrecht scandal, considered one of the largest corruption cases in recent Latin American history, exposed the breadth of bribery networks and illegal financing that permeated governments, political parties, and major infrastructure projects across the region.
The Brazilian construction company, through a sophisticated system of clandestine payments, allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to secure public contracts in countries such as Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, among others.
The revelations, stemming from investigations in the United States and Brazil, showed how the company used a “Caja 2” operated by the so-called Division of Structured Operations, a department created specifically to manage bribes. This structure allowed Odebrecht to intervene in key state decisions, influence multimillion-dollar tenders, and shape public policies according to its business interests.
In countries such as Peru, the consequences were particularly profound: Several former presidents were implicated, triggering a prolonged political crisis and weakening public trust in institutions. In Argentina and Mexico, the case sparked new debates about transparency in public contracting and the responsibility of political parties in campaign financing. In Panama and the Dominican Republic, investigations revealed similar practices, leading to trials, protests, and public demands for greater accountability.
Beyond the legal implications, the Odebrecht case exposed the deep roots of political corruption as a systemic practice common throughout the region. It also demonstrated the need to strengthen oversight mechanisms, expand international cooperation in investigations, and promote reforms that ensure greater transparency.
Although many judicial proceedings have already resulted in final rulings — especially in Peru, where the case exploded, revealing its severity as it implicated all presidents of the era — in Colombia the shadows remain greater than the light, and despite the allegations, what is known is still very little compared to what actually happened and how far the implications extended for certain political leaders and public officials.