Colombia’s national police chief has resigned a day after for allegedly operating a gay prostitution ring that served lawmakers and police officials.

General Rodolfo Palomino is also being investigated for alleged illicit enrichment and tapping journalists’ phones, investigator General Alejandro Ordonez said in a statement Tuesday (16 February).

The prostitution ring – referred to in the media as the Fellowship of the Ring – was operated between 2004 and 2008, and involved members of congress and , the statement said.

Local media released a 2008 video showing former Senator Carlos Ferro talking explicitly about gay sex to police Captain Anyelo Palacios, although Palomina is not mentioned.

Ferro resigned from his post as vice interior minister on Tuesday.

Palomino denied any involvement but also quit the next day.

In a public appearance with his wife and children, he said he was resigning ‘in the absolute and full certainty that I am not guilty of any of the charges against me.’

‘Faced with the known facts… I have made the decision with my family and with the police generals to ask the president to remove me from my post,’ he said.