Ecuador: Former Comptroller Celi To Trial For Corruption

On Monday, Ecuador's Supreme Judge Felipe Cordova decided that former Comptroller Pablo Celi will have to face charges of corruption in the Las Torres case. .

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This judicial process in which Jose Briones, the former secretary of President Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) and several officials from the state oil company, Petroecuador, are also involved

The judge took more than a month to analyze his decision as he had to evaluate the evidence and arguments presented by the Prosecutor's Office and the lawyers of the defendants.    

Attorney General Diana Salazar accused Celi of being part of a criminal network that solicited bribes from private companies that wanted to sign contracts with Petroecuador. The former comptroller and Briones are accused of demanding bribes in exchange for vanishing glosses and facilitating payments to the private company NoLimit.  

Former manager of Petroecuador Pablo Flores is also accused as one of the heads of the criminal network. The Prosecutor's Office accusation states that both of them were in charge of the command and leadership of this structured group, and says evidence proves they planned to deposit the money in Swiss banks.

Although the defense assures their clients did not request bribes, one of the defendants confirmed that Celi ordered to remove four glosses to favor an oil services company.

Currently, the Ecuadorian criminal code punishes organized crime with penalties of up to 10 years in prison.