City official was detained with $104,490 and then released

Diego Ordóñez Crespo, alternate Councillor for Fabricio Villamar, in the municipality of Quito, was arrested at the Mariscal Sucre airport last Tuesday when, accompanied by his wife, tried to leave the country with  $104.490. The couple’s destiny  was  Miami, United States.

A call to the 1-800 drugs alerted the police officers, who immediately reported the call. The police commander, Rodrigo Suárez, was the one confirm  the information and said that this is not the first time that the couple takes money to that country.

Both were transferred to the Unit of Flagrancias, where the Prosecutor, María Soledad Recalde, pressed charges against them for alleged money laundering, and then she arranged their release ordering precautionary measures, i.e.  they have to report weekly before a judge and are banned to leave the country.

During the hearing, Ordonez explained that he changed a cheque of 105,000 dollars, at the International Bank, awarded by the Central Bank  to cancel a debt to an American company.

The investigation into this case will last about 30 days, and is expected than the hearing of sustaining of  opinion  or preparatory trial will be held in next April.

According to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, between 2009 and 2012 the couple took out $570,000, “which have not been declared in Ecuador nor they have paid the Overseas Remittance Tax”.

Moreover, the alternate Councillor, in a statement argues that “the ongoing investigation will show that the origin of the funds regarding this incident, is transparent and honest,” attributing what happened to the “effort to damage my reputation, my family, and affect the image of the capital municipality”.