Judge orders prison against Glas and Pareja for embezzlement

Ecuadornews:

Prosecutor Ruth Palacios requested the ban on leaving the country for the eight remaining defendants in the Singue case. Presumed damage for $ 28 million. The national judge Ivan Saquicela dictated, on the night of this Wednesday, March 13, order of preventive detention against the former Vice President of the Republic, Jorge Glas; and the former Minister of Hydrocarbons, Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli, for the crime of embezzlement, allegedly committed in the Singue case.

For the eight remaining defendants, he ordered the prohibition of leaving the country and the presentation before the judge every Monday. For the 10 defendants, he ordered the prohibition of alienation of assets and the withholding of funds, except salaries, retirement pensions and remunerations.

In a hearing to formulate charges, Attorney General Ruth Palacios accused 10 ex-officers of the previous government of embezzlement based on 53 elements of conviction. Among them, Glas, Pareja and Wilson Pástor. In addition, José Burgos, Milton Jiménez, María Lorena Espinoza, Aníbal Cazar, Alfredo Herrera, René de Mora and Julio Cárdenas. Gustavo Donoso refrained from accusing. In the judicial proceeding that was carried out in the National Court of Justice, the Prosecutor affirmed that the defendants caused a damage to the State for $ 28,479,889 in the negotiation of the Singue oil field.

For this reason, for Glas and Pareja, she requested imprisonment, while for the remaining eight, the ban on leaving the country and periodic filing. For all the retention of accounts and prohibition of alienation of assets for $ 28,479,889. Harrison Salcedo, lawyer of Glas, indicated that the measure requested for his defendant is not necessary, since he is already in custody for another case and asked to review the tax request.

The national judge Iván Saquicela, after consultation with the Prosecutor, established that the retention of accounts will not include salaries, remunerations or retirement pensions. This is because family support cannot be put at risk.

The investigation of this case began at the end of 2017, after the Comptroller’s Office issued a report with indications of criminal responsibility, on the negotiation of the Singue oil field. The Comptroller’s Office analyzed the award of the oil field to the Dygoil Consultora y Servicios Petroleros Cia. Ltda. Consortium and Gente Oil Development LLC (DCG), in which irregularities had been committed. The report explains that the tariff of $ 33.50 per barrel (in favor of the consortium) was established without technical or legal support. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/judicial/12/prisionpreventiva-glas-capaya-casosingue