Quito, Ecuador: The Truth, Justice and Anti-Corruption Commission of the Ecuadorian National Assembly voted to recommend that President Guillermo Lasso be investigated for the ‘Encuentro’ corruption case, also known as ‘The Great Godfather.’
With six affirmative votes, they have approved a report recommending that the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic and the Office of the Comptroller General of the State open proceedings against the president for alleged corruption crimes. However, it is not a binding decision.
In the statement published this Wednesday by the National Assembly, it is argued that the evidence reviewed by the body during the session, which lasted seven hours, provides sufficient evidence to corroborate the report in which Lasso is accused and therefore ratifies its recommendation to investigate it.
“The President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, was warned by the former Anti-Corruption Secretary, Luis Verdesoto, of the possible acts of corruption, and not only that he did not report them, but also tried to prevent the supervisory action of the National Assembly,” says the letter.
“Not satisfied with this,” the agency continues, “the head of state interfered in the investigation process carried out by the State Attorney General’s Office by allowing the Ministry of the Interior to facilitate the transfer of 37 police investigators who coordinated actions with the Attorney General’s Office General of the State.
The president of the Commission, Viviana Veloz (from Unión por la Esperanza, the party of former president Rafael Correa), has described this day as “historic for the country” after, in February, she criticized the president for not showing up for a hearing in the commission, to testify about the facts that were being investigated.
The ‘Encuentro’ case details an alleged corruption plot, brought to light by the newspaper ‘La Posta’ through leaked audios, for which Danilo Carrera, Lasso’s brother-in-law, received bribes from suppliers of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador ( Celec) and Nacional de Electricidad (CNEL) to designate political responsibilities at hand.
