Colombia's top court takes over probe into former Petro aide

"The case will be assumed by a prosecutor under the Supreme Court of Justice, taking into account (Sarabia) now holds constitutional jurisdiction," the statement said. Sarabia's lawyer, Jorge Mario Gomez, on Tuesday told journalists in Bogota that neither his client nor her defense team feared the investigation.

Colombia's top court will take over an investigation into President Gustavo Petro's former chief of staff after he brought her into the government as director of the department of social prosperity, the attorney general's office said on Tuesday. Laura Sarabia had resigned as Petro's chief of staff in June after prosecutors probed accusations of illegal phone intercepts of two members of domestic staff. But she was sworn in to her new role on Monday.

While prosecutors initially launched an investigation into the allegations, the case now has to move to the Supreme Court, the attorney general's office said in a statement. "The case will be assumed by a prosecutor under the Supreme Court of Justice, taking into account (Sarabia) now holds constitutional jurisdiction," the statement said.

Sarabia's lawyer, Jorge Mario Gomez, on Tuesday told journalists in Bogota that neither his client nor her defense team feared the investigation. Sarabia reported in January that some $4,000 had been taken from her apartment in northern Bogota and afterward her son's nanny was taken to the presidential palace, where she and another worker were given polygraph tests and questioned about the funds, attorney general Francisco Barbosa said in June.

Gomez said Sarabia had not ordered the polygraph tests to take place. The nanny, Marelbys Meza, who spoke to a local magazine for a cover story about the incident, has denied any wrongdoing.

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