Pareja wants to collaborate with the Attorney General´s office

Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli, former Minister of Hydrocarbons, says he is willing to help the Attorney General’s Office to clarify the case of alleged corruption in Petroecuador.

He is investigated for the crime of bribery and, since yesterday, also for illicit enrichment.

At the hearing on charges, carried out at the National Court of Justice, his lawyer, Xavier Cazar, announced that Pareja Yannuzzelli wanted to appear through a videoconference. The National Court Judge, Sylvia Sanchez, did not allow it.

The reason? The defendant did not attach a Skype address in the appearance request, did not register an email, did not specify where in the world he was or if there was any diplomatic authority with him that could verify his true identity.

So far, the authorities’ hypothesis is that Pareja Yannuzzelli is in the United States.

Their “effective collaboration” in the investigation could mean an abbreviated procedure and a sentence reduction. Of course, first, he would have to assume his responsibility for the crimes attributed to him. That decision is in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office.