Participation asks to link Correa to the case of the Refinery
Ecuadornews:
The Council of Transitional Citizen Participation (CPCCST) brought to the Prosecutor’s Office its third complaint about the supposed corruption of the Rafael Correa government.
The case of alleged organized crime against the prefect of Manabí, Mariano Zambrano and his son, Assemblyman Mariano Zambrano Vera, and the suspicions of irregularities in the Manduriacu hydroelectric plant, were joined yesterday by the Pacific Refinery case.
It was the president of the transitory, Julio César Trujillo, who went to the Prosecutor’s Office to present the case. The document with the alleged anomalies contains 2,099 pages of research promoted by the Technical Secretariat of Transparency and the Fight Against Corruption.
For Trujillo it is “the biggest heist to the country’s economy consummated in the Correa government, those who forged it were his collaborators”.
Among others, the Council asks that Correa and his former Vice President Jorge Glas (sentenced to six years for illicit association in the Odebrecht case) be linked to the investigation. But they are not the only ones in which suspicion falls.
Participation believes that former Comptroller Carlos Pólit should be investigated for the neutralization of subsequent control mechanisms. Also the ex-minister and former president of the Wilson Pástor refinery directory, who told EXPRESO that his position in the board was contrary to the realization of the land movement without financing.
He recalled that the resolution of the board was based on a recommendation of Worley Parsons. Others mentioned are Pabel Muñoz, ex-delegate of Senplades and current assembly member, as well as ex-managers (owners and managers) of Petroecuador and the refinery. The investigation for all is as presumed responsible for the abuse of public resources and acts of favor for the realization of business with the State to Odebrecht.
Other crimes presumed by the Council are influence peddling. In this case, the suspicions go to ex-prosecutor Galo Chiriboga, his deputy Cecilia Armas, former Vice President Glas, judges Marco Maldonado and Karen Matamoros, for filing a complaint that revealed irregularities and overpricing in the purchase of land for the refinery.
According to Trujillo, only in the acquisition of land was the value of the appraisal paid more than 56 times. He indicated that 73 million would have been destined only for licenses and more than 380 million for consultancies. The Secretary of Transparency, Marcela Estrella, revealed that the damage in this case would exceed 1.2 billion dollars.
Estrella believes that other crimes that could have been committed in this case are: influence peddling, tax evasion, organized crime, money laundering, embezzlement. The official, however, clarified that they are presumptions, not accusations.
This newspaper consulted the ex-prosecutor Chiriboga and Assemblyman Muñoz. Until the closing of the edition there was no response.
Provision
Cases
On April 4, 2018, the plenary session of the Council decided to investigate a dozen cases such as Manduriacu, Pascuales Cuenca, Refinería, Escuelas del Milenio.
Exhort
Participation will call the Comptroller’s Office for new examinations on those approved because most detail irregularities that do not end with responsibilities.
The chasing
A fine for Expreso newspaper
In November 2014, EXPRESO was sanctioned by Carlos Ochoa’s Supercom for the publication of a report from the Comptroller General that indicated a loss of $ 29.3 million in basic engineering contracts at the Pacific Refinery. Despite all the proofs of discharge, the entity sentenced this newspaper to apologize to the refinery and imposed a fine equivalent to 2% of the average turnover of the last three months. This was the way to persecute independent media during the regime of Rafael Correa. (I)
Source: https://www.expreso.ec/actualidad/consejoparticipacion-vinculacion-rafaelcorrea-refinaria-BB2627605