An Ecuadorean judge ordered that the country's current comptroller and former energy minister be placed under pre-trial detention on charges of organized crime related to state oil company Petroecuador, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Ecuador judge orders pre-trial detention for officials in oil graft case An Ecuadorean judge ordered that the country s current comptroller and former energy minister be placed under pre-trial detention on charges of organized crime related to state oil company Petroecuador, prosecutors said on Wednesday.Reuters | Quito | Updated: 14-04-2021 21:13 IST | Created: 14-04-2021 21:13 IST
An Ecuadorean judge ordered that the country s current comptroller and former energy minister be placed under pre-trial detention on charges of organized crime related to state oil company Petroecuador, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Prosecutors on Tuesday alleged that Comptroller Pablo Celi and former energy minister Jose Agusto Briones, who had also served as secretary to President Lenin Moreno, had abused their powers to orchestrate bribe payments related to Petroecuador contracts awarded between 2017 and 2020.
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(Bloomberg) Authorities in Ecuador detained fourteen current and former senior government officials, including Pablo Flores, the one-time boss of state-owned Petroecuador, less than a week after allegations of bribery involving the company emerged from a U.S. investigation.
(Bloomberg) Authorities in Ecuador detained fourteen current and former senior government officials, including Pablo Flores, the one-time boss of state-owned Petroecuador, less than a week after allegations of bribery involving the company emerged from a U.S. investigation.
A team of prosecutors and police led by Prosecutor General Diana Salazar searched residences and offices in three Ecuadorian cities and seized computers and cash. Those detained under suspicion of organized crime also include Pablo Celi, the current comptroller general and former Oil Minister Jose Agusto.
The Civic Front of People Harmed by the Comptroller’s Office asks the attorney general Diana Salazar to link the process for organized crime
in which the comptroller (s) Pablo Celi and eight other people are investigated to the current deputy comptroller , Valentina Zárate, to some authorities , directors and important advisers of the Comptroller General of the State (CGE).
The spokesman for the Civic Front for the Damaged by the CGE, Alejandro Rodas Coloma, explained that they maintain testimonies and documents against the surrogate comptroller Valentina Zárate that would link this official with irregularities that delegitimize her performance as head of the control entity.
Ecuador Detains Former Top Oil Officials in Graft Probe
Stephan Kueffner, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) Authorities in Ecuador detained fourteen current and former senior government officials, including Pablo Flores, the one-time boss of state-owned Petroecuador, less than a week after allegations of bribery involving the company emerged from a U.S. investigation.
A team of prosecutors and police led by Prosecutor General Diana Salazar searched residences and offices in three Ecuadorian cities and seized computers and cash. Those detained under suspicion of organized crime also include Pablo Celi, the current comptroller general and former Oil Minister Jose Agusto.
A spokesman for the office of the prosecutor said he couldnât comment as to whether the raids were related to the bribery revelations linking Petroecuador with commodity traders Vitol Group and Gunvor Group Ltd. A former Gunvor employee pleaded guilty in New York last week to helping bribe Ecuadorian officials to w