Transfer of Cerimedo to Chonchocoro on hold: Police awaits court order
The Bolivian Police has not yet received the order to transfer Argentine Fernando Cerimedo from Palmasola to Chonchocoro, despite reports of an imminent transfer.
Bolivian police await formal order to move Cerimedo to maximum-security prison
The general commander of the Bolivian Police, Colonel Adrián Álvarez, confirmed on Tuesday that the institution has not received any official directive to transfer Fernando Cerimedo from the Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz to Chonchocoro in La Paz. This was reported by lostiempos.com, which gathered Álvarez's statements to the press.
Unconfirmed reports had suggested that the transfer could take place on Tuesday. Álvarez clarified that the Police would comply with "any directive issued" by the competent authorities, but stated that there is currently no instruction to that effect: "These directives have not yet been brought to the attention of the Bolivian Police," he asserted.
Cerimedo's defence presented multiple legal remedies to prevent the transfer to Chonchocoro, although all were rejected by the courts. The maximum-security prison in La Paz was ordered by a La Paz court as a place of preventive detention, a decision later upheld by other judicial bodies.
Cerimedo, an Argentine national, was initially admitted to Palmasola prison accused of attempted femicide against his former partner Nadia Beller. Days later, a La Paz court ordered his transfer to Chonchocoro as part of a separate proceeding for illicit enrichment.
It was precisely Beller who reported that Cerimedo acted as the "president in the shadows" of the country. The Argentine's former partner accused him of conducting business linked to fuel and gold alongside President Rodrigo Paz, his circle and first lady Bibi Urquidi. Cerimedo served as presidential adviser to Paz.
In the framework of the illicit enrichment case, the Public Prosecutor's office carried out several raids on properties allegedly linked to the Argentine. Among the most relevant findings, the departmental prosecutor of La Paz, Carlos Torres, detailed that documents were seized, more than half a million bolivianos—in national currency, dollars and euros—and, according to him, "a mini bot farm", an element that he described as striking.
It was also established that Cerimedo rented an office in the southern zone of La Paz for 25,000 bolivianos per month, where he intended to operate as a "government adviser", according to information from the Public Ministry.
The former presidential adviser also faces other proceedings for domestic violence and for trafficking in controlled substances and conspiracy.
Source: Google News BO — La Paz