Prosecutor Charges Alexis Mera and María de los Ángeles Duarte With More Crimes

Ecuadortimes:

He arrived handcuffed, in a bulletproof vest and escorted by police officers. Alexis Mera, former legal secretary of the brokerage, went this Wednesday June 19, 2019 to the Criminalistics service for a reserved diligence.

He and María de los Ángeles Duarte, former minister of Public Works, are investigated for concussion, a crime that is configured when a public official abuses his power and demands illegal gratuities. In this case they are pointed out because they would have captured illegal money from contractors and used it to finance Alianza País campaigns in 2013.

Within that file, the investigators exposed this Wednesday cell phones, memory cards, chips and CDs, which on May 31 were confiscated from the two former officials. After the diligence, the defense confirmed that Mera delivered the keys of the electronic devices. “They are not going to find anything there, because the investigation is not against Mera, but against Pamela Martínez,” said her lawyer, Fausto Jarrín.

Martínez was an advisor to former president Rafael Correa and, along with her former assistant Laura Terán, they are under arrest for alleged links to alleged illegal contributions to Alianza País campaigns. At this moment, three of Martínez’s notebooks are in the hands of the investigators.

A part of these notes were made public and there appear phrases like this: “I also suggested to the AP members to take into account the allowed ceiling of the contributions, since the NEC sets a ceiling for dignity. Request office UR with the SP (Mr. President). Elsewhere, the breakdown of 13 deposits for USD 191 442 appears and states: “I tell you that what I have recorded are the items of the invoices for campaign expenses. What is recorded are invoices, not the rest, because the envelopes that arrived were delivered semi-open.

Today I am handing over the details to AP. In addition, this is said: “VP (Vice President of the Republic) disposes to record the campaign expenses, indicated by Vinicio Alvarado”. He was also initially pointed out along with Mera and Duarte, but last June 7, a Criminal Court of the National Court lifted the prison order against him.

Then, the investigation continued only for the former legal secretary and the former minister of Public Works. After a process of investigation against the two, the Attorney General’s Office reformulated charges for both and asked that they be investigated for bribery, conspiracy and influence peddling.

The entity assured that this procedure takes place “because it considers that the results of the investigation justifiably vary the legal qualification”. In a letter written from Jail 4, in Quito, Mera assured that he is imprisoned “only for Martínez’s version” and that with her statement she will benefit “from a 90% reduction in sentence”. “She intends to take advantage of what is known as effective cooperation, which should lead to the provision of verifiable information in a criminal investigation, from superior chains of command, providing data, evidence, recordings or financial data,” she said. (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/fiscal-delitos-mera-duarte-investigacion.html