This morning 25 properties were raided in Quito and Guayaquil as part of the organized crime investigation conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office in the case of Raul de la Torre Prado, a former advisor to the former director of Petroecuador Pablo Flores and a relative of the Comptroller General (s), Pablo Sile. Raul de la Torre Prado was arrested in July 2019 with $ 250,000 at the Miami airport. After learning about the case, Pablo Celli and Pablo Flores distanced themselves. In Celie’s case, he said he was distantly related and currently has no direct relationship. In the case of Petroecuador, it has been indicated that De la Torre is no longer in charge of the company, but it has been known that he left office on the same day as his arrest.

Raul case De la Torre Prado was one of five cases brought to justice in the United States In the middle of the exchange of letters, the Minister of Energy, Rene Ortiz, and the director of EP Petro-Ecuador, Gonzalo Maldonado, provided details about the corruption cases that occurred in the oil company.

According to Petroecuador, this operation is an investigation into the money laundering crime previously conducted at the Anti-Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office No. 1 by Luis Augusto Rosero Mendy; However, the process was referred to the Public Prosecutor for jurisdiction of National Court # 3.

Minister René Ortiz had stated in his letter that in November 2019, Raul de la Torre Prado, an official at Petroecuador, has pleaded guilty to Florida state courts for the money laundering offense. In the document that appears in US courts, you can read:Between 2018 and June 2019, the defendant, who was then working as an administrator in Petroecador, plotted with other Petro-Ecuador officials, the Ecuadorian government and with certain people in a scheme, to receive millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for using her job. To allow the company to obtain and maintain contracts and contractual payments from Petroecuador. ” Alongside de la Torre, Roberto Barrera was also arrested. He said in his statement that he was close to a senior official at Petroecuador, who oversaw the award of contracts, as well as payments, at that company.

For his part, Maldonado indicated that through a payment dated August 12, 2019, Petroecuador was excluded from accessing the information, as it was not considered a victim. “We have been informed that AP Petro Ecuador is not considered a victim in this process and that is why we cannot access it.”

Maldonado reiterated that this process has been proven in the United States to commit the crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In this sense, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the body competent to defend the interests of the state at the international level, appeared in criminal proceedings through Squire Pattom Boggs, which made it clear to Petroecuador that it withdrew the victims’ rights claim in light of new information provided by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office which Confirms that the corruption conspiracy has not resulted in new contracts for EP Petroecador.

In addition, on November 15, 2019, the state attorney general was informed of the events that occurred in the United States related to a bribery scheme linking Mr. Jose Raul de la Torre Prado, and international criminal assistance was also requested. It should be noted that we have not received any response from the State Prosecutor’s Office so far.

Today is the first thing in the morning after the issue was heard by the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno wrote on his Twitter account: “I learned about the arrests and raids that took place this morning. As was my habit from the first moment, my respect for the independence and independence of state functions.” (I)