# Colombia's ex-foreign minister charged over nanny polygraph

> A missing case of cash, a nanny strapped to a lie detector, and a top presidential aide now facing prosecutors.
- Title: Colombia's ex-foreign minister charged over nanny polygraph
- Summary: A missing case of cash, a nanny strapped to a lie detector, and a top presidential aide now facing prosecutors. Prosecutors say Sarabia turned state police…
- Keywords: colombia, politics, abuse of power, gustavo petro, scandal, news, world, Colombia's, ex-foreign, minister, charged, nanny
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c61580330nj1o
- Published: 2026-09-15T12:59:21.074+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: colombia, politics, abuse of power, gustavo petro, scandal, news, world
## Prosecutors name the minister
Colombian prosecutors have accused Laura Sarabia, the country's former foreign minister, of abusing her power by making her nanny sit a lie detector test.
## Money missing from the flat
The scandal broke in 2023 when Semana reported that a woman hired to care for Sarabia's son was hooked to a polygraph over a case of cash said to have vanished from Sarabia's flat.
## It felt like a kidnapping
Nanny Marelbys Meza said Sarabia's driver drove her to an official building opposite the presidential palace, where police attached her to the machine and questioned her about the money.

> a kidnapping
## She denied it then and since
Meza denied stealing anything during the test itself, and has repeated that denial in every media interview in the years since.
## State resources, private matter
The charge is specific: as chief of staff to President Gustavo Petro, Sarabia ordered police to investigate something that had nothing to do with her official post.
## Resigned, then promoted twice
Sarabia, now 32, quit in June 2023 but was later made foreign minister, then ambassador to the UK. She rejected the accusation at a hearing and denies wrongdoing.
## Key takeaway

Prosecutors say Sarabia turned state police power into a private investigation of her own household staff, and she kept rising through government for two years afterwards.