Luis Fernando Andrade Under Investigation: Which Sanctions Are Final, Which Lawsuits Are Still Pending, and What Has Not Been Proven in the Case File of the Former Director of the ANI

Luis Fernando Andrade Moreno stepped down as president of the consulting firm McKinsey in Colombia. He headed the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) from 2011 to 2017. He is the official with the highest technical profile implicated in the Odebrecht scandal on the Ruta del Sol. His case file includes three disciplinary sanctions from the Attorney General’s Office—two of which are final—along with several criminal proceedings. As of October 7, 2026, none of these cases has resulted in a verdict. Andrade pleads not guilty on all counts and speaks of “persecution.” This record distinguishes between cases where sanctions have been imposed and those still pending trial.

The short answer: Luis Fernando Andrade has no criminal convictions. What is final, however, are two sanctions imposed by the Attorney General’s Office. One is an 18-year disqualification for adding the Ocaña-Gamarra section to the Ruta del Sol II project without a competitive bidding process. Another is an 8-year ban for changing the contract’s payment terms to benefit the Odebrecht concessionaire. A third sanction, a 15-year ban related to Ruta del Sol III, is currently under review in the court of first instance. In criminal court, the Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of undue influence in contracts and is trying him in Bogotá. However, several of the charges against him have been dismissed by judges, and no verdict has been handed down. The Prosecutor’s Office never charged him with bribery because it found no evidence that he received money.

Who Is Luis Fernando Andrade and Why Does His Case Matter?

Andrade joined the ANI in 2011 with a reputation as a technocrat. He had previously led McKinsey in Colombia, and his mission was to move forward with fourth-generation highway concessions. The Ruta del Sol, the highway between Bogotá and the Caribbean coast, was the flagship project. Section II was operated by a concessionaire controlled by Odebrecht. He left his post in 2017, after the scandal had already erupted.

His case matters because it is the Colombian case in which disciplinary and criminal liability are most clearly separated. The Attorney General’s Office has sanctioned him three times for violations in the contracting process. The Prosecutor’s Office, on the other hand, has spent nine years without securing a conviction, with charges dismissed due to lack of specificity. This contrast explains why Andrade may be barred from public office for 18 years and, at the same time, not be a convicted criminal. To understand the other side of the same story, Auditoría Abierta is publishing the case files of Bernardo “Ñoño” Elías, the senator who lobbied for the Ocaña-Gamarra section, and of Roberto Prieto, who received money from the Ruta del Sol III project.

The seven aspects of the case, with their level of evidence

No.	Point	What is alleged	Authority and date	Andrade’s Response	Status and level of support
1	Ocaña-Gamarra Sanction	He arranged for the section to be added to the Ruta del Sol II contract without a competitive bidding process	Attorney General’s Office, February 2022	Denies any wrongdoing	Proven in disciplinary proceedings. 18 years, final
2	Penalty for payment addenda	Changed the payment method in 2015 to advance payments to the concessionaire	Attorney General’s Office; second-instance ruling of November 5, 2024	Denies any wrongdoing	Proven in disciplinary proceedings. 8 years, final
3	Ruta del Sol III Sanction	Facilitated a contract with Yuma through which 650 million pesos were funneled to Roberto Prieto	Attorney General’s Office, October 14, 2023	Denies wrongdoing	First instance. 15 years, no known confirmation
4	Ocaña-Gamarra criminal trial	He was aware of and permitted bribes in exchange for the addition of the section	Prosecutor’s Office; 25th Criminal Circuit Court	Not guilty; did not plead guilty	On trial, no verdict yet
5	Ruta del Sol III Case	Conflict of interest and embezzlement related to studies for a bridge between Plato and Zambrano	Prosecutor’s Office, 2021 and 2023	Not Guilty	Charges dismissed in 2022 and reformulated in 2023. No verdict
6	Eight addenda to the Ruta del Sol II project	Approved changes without technical justification that resulted in $35.8 billion in unpaid fines	Prosecutor’s Office, November 30, 2023	Did not accept the charges; claimed “persecution”	Defendant, no verdict
7	House arrest	Precautionary measure from 2017 for undue influence and perjury	Preliminary hearing judge	Traveled to Miami after the revocation	Revoked on December 4, 2018, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office

Case 1: The 18-year sentence for the Ocaña-Gamarra section

In February 2022, the Attorney General’s Office removed Andrade from office and barred him from holding public office for 18 years, according to El País de Cali. It found that he violated the principles of transparency and objective selection by drafting and signing Addenda 3 and 6 to Concession Contract 001 of 2010. Those documents favored the concessionaire, which was composed of Odebrecht companies.

According to the ruling cited by El Espectador, it was Andrade who requested the change from the concessionaire. Instead of building the Puerto Salgar–San Roque highway, the concessionaire was to build the Ocaña–Gamarra highway. He instructed his colleagues at the ANI to facilitate this and met “secretly” with Senator Bernardo Miguel Elías for that purpose. Among the evidence are communications from 2012 between Andrade and Eder Paolo Ferracutti, the concessionaire’s legal representative. The Attorney General’s Office concluded that he acceded to irregular requests from Odebrecht’s director in Colombia, Eleuberto Martorelli, to award the road contract without a public bidding process.

Front 2: The 8-year sanction regarding the payment method

This sanction is separate and relates to other events involving the same contract. In 2015, Andrade signed two documents that changed the payment terms for the concessionaire, according to the Attorney General’s Office’s official statement. Payments would be made upon reaching 80% completion of the agreements, rather than the agreed-upon 100%. The agency concluded that this change, requested by the concessionaire itself, brought forward the payments and resulted in a loss to public assets, according to El Espectador.

The Ordinary Disciplinary Trial Chamber upheld the dismissal and the 8-year disqualification on appeal. This occurred on November 5, 2024, according to La FM. The court noted that Andrade failed to conduct feasibility studies and ignored the recommendations of the ANI’s Advisory Committee on Contractual Affairs. That committee had already warned of the risks of altering the original terms.

Case 3: The 15-Year Sanction for the Ruta del Sol III Project

On October 14, 2023, the Attorney General’s Office removed Andrade from office and barred him from public office for 15 years, according to El Espectador. The reason: irregularities in a $5,788 million peso contract with Yuma Concesionaria. That contract was for studies and designs for a second bridge between Plato and Zambrano, on the Magdalena River, as part of the Ruta del Sol III project. According to the oversight agency, subaccounts were created within the ANI labeled as supervision expenses. From these accounts, approximately 650 million pesos were diverted to Roberto Prieto through the front company Megaland, according to Infobae.

The decision was appealable before the Ordinary Trial Chamber and subsequently before the Council of State. No public information was found regarding a second-instance ruling. Therefore, this sanction is recorded as a first-instance ruling.

Front 4: The Criminal Trial of Ocaña-Gamarra

Unlike the sanctions, the criminal case remains open and no verdict has been handed down. The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that Andrade, as director of the ANI, was aware of and permitted the payment of bribes, according to El País de Cali. In exchange, Odebrecht secured the Ocaña-Gamarra section. In September 2023, a prosecutor from the Special Task Force for the Odebrecht case charged him with undue influence in the awarding of contracts. Andrade denied the charge, according to El Espectador.

In October 2024, the Prosecutor’s Office itself requested the dismissal of a parallel charge on the grounds that it would amount to double jeopardy. The judge rejected the request, and the proceedings continued, according to Infobae. The trial, presided over by Bogotá’s 25th Criminal Circuit Court, was still ongoing as of the date of the sources consulted. Former President Juan Manuel Santos and former Senator Bernardo Elías have testified in the case; Elías stated that Andrade knew about the bribes. Andrade denies this. A key point: the Prosecutor’s Office never charged him with bribery because it found no evidence that he had received money from Odebrecht, according to Noticias RCN.

Appendix: Criminal Cases Without a Verdict and Revoked Measures

The 2017 house arrest and its revocation

In late 2017, a judge ordered Andrade’s house arrest for undue influence in the awarding of contracts and perjury, according to Noticias RCN. The case concerned the addendum to the Ocaña-Gamarra section signed on March 14, 2014. On December 4, 2018, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office itself, a judge revoked the measure, according to El Universal. Days later, Andrade traveled to Miami and did not attend a preliminary hearing on December 18. His defense team alleged intimidation, and he said he was going on vacation, according to El Tiempo. According to La FM, he remains outside Colombia.

The Ruta del Sol III Case

In February 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office charged Andrade with undue influence in the awarding of contracts and embezzlement related to addenda 02 and 05 of 2015. According to the indictment cited by Infobae, those addenda allowed for a payment of more than 800 million pesos to Yuma Concesionaria and Consultores Unidos. The payment was for studies on a bridge between Plato and Zambrano. Roberto Prieto and four other individuals were also charged in the same case.

On March 30, 2022, a judge in Bogotá dismissed the case because the Prosecutor’s Office had failed to establish the legally relevant facts, according to El Espectador. On September 21, 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office once again charged him along with eight other former ANI officials, according to Radio Nacional. The charges: entering into a contract without complying with legal requirements and illicit enrichment. The Prosecutor’s Office later filed an indictment to bring him to trial, according to La FM. However, the charges related to the bridge designs have been dismissed by judges on more than one occasion. No verdict was reached.

The Eight Addenda to the Ruta del Sol II Project

On November 30, 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office charged Andrade with undue influence in contracts, according to El Espectador. It alleges that he approved, without technical justification, eight amendments (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10) to Concession Contract 001 of 2010. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, these changes reduced the thickness of the asphalt and altered the timelines. In addition, they failed to collect fines totaling more than 35,800 million pesos and authorized unplanned construction work amounting to another 10,330 million pesos, according to Semana. Andrade denied the charges, and his defense team called it “persecution.” No verdict has been reached.

So, what has been proven in the case against Luis Fernando Andrade?

1. Proved in disciplinary proceedings, final: 18-year disqualification for adding the Ocaña-Gamarra section without a competitive bidding process. Attorney General’s Office, February 2022.
2. Proven in disciplinary proceedings, final: 8-year disqualification for changing the contract’s payment terms. Confirmed on November 5, 2024.
3. First-instance disciplinary proceedings: 15-year disqualification for the Ruta del Sol III project, October 2023, with no known confirmation.
4. Criminal trial, no verdict: undue interest in contracts for Ocaña-Gamarra, 25th Criminal Circuit Court.
5. Charged, no verdict: Ruta del Sol III and eight amendments to Ruta del Sol II.
6. What has not been proven: that he received money from Odebrecht. The Prosecutor’s Office never charged him with bribery due to lack of evidence.
7. Criminal convictions: none.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Was Luis Fernando Andrade convicted in the Odebrecht case?

No. He has no criminal convictions. He is on trial for undue influence in contracts for the Ocaña-Gamarra section and faces other charges for which no verdict has been reached. What has been finalized are two disciplinary sanctions from the Attorney General’s Office: 18 and 8 years of disqualification from public office.

Why did the Attorney General’s Office disqualify Andrade for 18 years?

For adding the Ocaña-Gamarra section to the Ruta del Sol II contract without a public bidding process, in favor of the Odebrecht concessionaire. The Attorney General’s Office concluded in February 2022 that Andrade requested the change and instructed his staff to make it happen. He also met with Senator Bernardo Elías for that purpose.

Did Andrade receive bribes from Odebrecht?

This has not been proven. The Prosecutor’s Office never charged him with bribery because it found no evidence that he received money. It accuses him of undue influence in contracts—that is, of favoring the concessionaire through his position. Former Senator Bernardo Elías testified at the trial that Andrade knew about the bribes; Andrade denies this.

How many sentences has Luis Fernando Andrade received?

Three from the Attorney General’s Office. Two are final: 18 years for the Ocaña-Gamarra section (2022) and 8 years for changes to the payment terms (confirmed in November 2024). The third, a 15-year sentence for Ruta del Sol III (October 2023), is a first-instance ruling and has not yet been confirmed.

Where is Luis Fernando Andrade?

Outside Colombia. He traveled to Miami in December 2018, days after a judge revoked his house arrest. He did not attend a hearing on December 18 of that year. According to La FM, he remains abroad and has requested that the attorney general testify at his trial.

What was the Ocaña-Gamarra section?

A section of the Ruta del Sol II highway that was added to Odebrecht’s concession contract without a competitive bidding process, through Addendum No. 6 of 2014. According to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office, the addition was secured through bribes paid to members of Congress—including Bernardo “Ñoño” Elías—and through Andrade’s efforts at the ANI.

Why were the charges against Andrade dismissed?

Because judges ruled that the Prosecutor’s Office did not clearly specify the legally relevant facts. This occurred on March 30, 2022, in the Ruta del Sol III case. Additionally, the charge related to the designs for the Plato Bridge has been dismissed more than once. The Prosecutor’s Office has refiled them.

Sources consulted

• El País (Colombia): Odebrecht Case, Luis Fernando Andrade on Trial and Facing New Charges (2023)
• El Espectador: Attorney General’s Office sanctions Luis Fernando Andrade with an 18-year disqualification (February 2022)
• Office of the Attorney General: Sanction of dismissal and disqualification confirmed for former ANI director (November 2024)
• El Espectador: Ruta del Sol: Disqualification of former ANI director confirmed (2024)
• La FM: Sanction Against Luis Fernando Andrade Confirmed for Irregularities in the Ruta del Sol Project (November 5, 2024)
• El Espectador: Prosecutor’s Office Re-Indicts Luis Fernando Andrade for Odebrecht Corruption (2023)
• Infobae: Former ANI Director to Remain Under Investigation; Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss (October 18, 2024)
• El Espectador: Attorney General’s Office Sanctions and Disqualifies Luis Fernando Andrade for 15 Years (October 14, 2023)
• Infobae: Attorney General’s Office bars former ANI president from public office for 15 years (October 14, 2023)
• Noticias RCN: Luis Fernando Andrade Ordered to Remain Under House Arrest (2017)
• El Universal: Judge Orders Revocation of Pretrial Detention Order Against Luis Fernando Andrade (December 4, 2018)
• El Tiempo: Luis Fernando Andrade left the country and did not attend the Odebrecht hearing (December 2018)
• Infobae: Prosecutor’s Office charges Andrade, Prieto, and four others in connection with the Ruta del Sol III project (February 22, 2021)
• El Espectador: Case against Luis Fernando Andrade dismissed (March 30, 2022)
• Radio Nacional: New charges filed against Luis Fernando Andrade (September 21, 2023)
• Semana: Andrade Charged with Irregularities in Eight Addenda to the Ruta del Sol II Project (November 30, 2023)
• La FM: Luis Fernando Andrade to Stand Trial for Ruta del Sol III

This article compiles documented facts and allegations attributed to the individuals named. The mention of an allegation does not imply its veracity, and the responses of the person mentioned are included in each case. Auditoría Abierta offers Luis Fernando Andrade the opportunity to respond and will update the article with any new developments. Information verified as of October 7, 2026.