BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Colombian lawmakers have been
                  wasting more than $23,000 a month in public money on phone calls to sex
                  hotlines, the state phone company reported on Tuesday.

                  Officials of the state phone company Telecom made the discovery after they
                  were asked to help trim the communications bill in the Lower House, or
                  Chamber of Representatives.

                  Telecom also discovered that at least 30 of the chamber's 620 lines had
                  been diverted to nearby cafes and restaurants -- allowing lawmakers to
                  work in more convivial surroundings.

                  Overall, the phone bill for the lower house comes to about $233,000 a
                  month. Work is set to begin soon on a new phone system for the chamber
                  designed to filter out personal calls.

                  Colombian lawmakers, reputedly among the most corrupt in the western
                  hemisphere, have also been accused of high-level graft and links to drug
                  syndicates.