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Former Ecuadorian presidential candidate fugitive from justice transferred funds to account in his name in Miami, according to documents
Posted On 20 Aug 2020
A few hours after a court order was known that sought to freeze the bank accounts of former presidential candidate Dalo Bucaram in Ecuador, he managed to make a transfer to an account in his name in Miami where he took refuge after facing an arrest warrant for a scandal of illegal sales of medical supplies.
Former Ecuadorian presidential candidate fugitive from justice transferred funds to account in his name in Miami, according to documents
Univision Noticias had access to documents showing a transfer from Ecuador for $ 76,871.07.
From the same account he made a payment to an interior remodeling company for $ 2,900.
He also sent more than $ 1,000 to the ADT company, which according to its website sells smart home security equipment such as sensors, motion detectors, control panels, cameras and locks.
He also paid nearly $ 8,000 to a firm that sells tiny dogs (Teacup) to order.
Several members of the Bucaram family have prison warrants against them, including Dalo’s father, Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz, who was president of Ecuador for only six months from August 1996 to February 1997, when he was removed by Congress after be declared mentally unfit to rule.
On August 12, at the age of 70, he was arrested while he was sleeping in the room of his home in the city of Guayaquil in a prosecution operation that was televised. Prosecutors are investigating the illegal sale of medical supplies during the toughest stage of the COVID-19 health emergency.
His sons Jacobo, Michel and Dalo Bucaram Pulley are also involved in the plot of alleged acts of corruption, accused in addition to illicit association.
THE PROCESS
Among those involved is Abdalá Bucaram Pulley, better known as Dalo Bucaram, a former candidate for the presidency of Ecuador in the 2017 elections and son of the ousted former president Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz.
The Criminal Guarantees Judge Gianella Noritz, after analyzing the elements of conviction presented, accepted the request of the Prosecutor’s Office and issued preventive detention against the suspects, also resolved the prohibition of alienating movable and immovable property, transfer of shares and release of policies and the blocking of accounts that have those processed in the financial system of Ecuador.
But those precautionary measures were not an obstacle so that eight hours and 16 minutes after it was issued, exactly at 10:46 am ET Dalo Bucaram transferred $ 76,871.07 dollars from Ecuador to an account under his name in a United States bank, according to documents banking obtained by Univision.
Experts explained to Univision that for a suspect’s bank accounts to be blocked, the court must notify the Superintendency of Banks, which in turn must inform the financial system, a process that can take up to eight days.
The office of the Judge of Criminal Guarantees Gianella Noritz issued the precautionary measures in the early hours of the morning when the financial system was not operating.
The Superintendency of Banks of Ecuador confirmed to Univision that it received the notification of the precautionary measures on August 11, 2020 but did not specify the exact date and time when this institution notified the financial system of Ecuador regarding the freezing of Dalo Bucaram’s accounts. .
Luis Monteros, communication director of the Prosecutor’s Office, during an e-mail exchange, sent Univision an internal e-mail by mistake that literally reads: “We have already lowered [the journalist] the information claim.”
After Univision Noticias asked for an explanation for the content of the response, in which it is also stated that the Miami reporter is “lost” Monteros apologized and maintained that a colleague of his who has access to his personal email would have been the one who sent the message.
