The Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office has requested the conviction of the brother-in-law of former president Guillermo Laso for organized crime
Ecuador’s public prosecutor’s office asked the Court of Criminal Guarantees, which is hearing the Encuentro case, to sentence him as a leader of organized crime, Danilo Carrerabrother-in-law of the former president Guillermo Lasso. Carrera is accused and as a collaborator Antonio Icazaa former manager of the state-owned National Electricity Corporation (CNEL), for being involved in the corruption structure in public companies during the Lasa government.
In its closing argument, the public prosecutor’s office said that “the defendants acted with full knowledge of the commission of the crime and that each of them played a specific role, as a leader and an accomplice respectively,” and argued that both defendants were criminally responsible.
According to the prosecutor in charge of the case, Carrera (65 years old), in coordination with his murdered friend Rubén Cherres and in cooperation with Icaza, participated in a “criminal structure to obtain benefits for the leaders. “groups.” According to the Ministry of Public Affairs: “Leaders would use the label Hernán Luque (detained in Argentina) in the management of the Coordinating Company of Public Companies to appoint Antonio Icaza as the General Director of CNEL, who would be involved in the management of orders in the electricity sector,” states Teleamazons.
According to Ecuador’s criminal code, Carrera faces seven to ten years in prison. While Icaz could be sentenced to up to 13 years for committing a crime while in public office. Prosecutors asked the judge that each person’s sentence include paying $682,188.08 in comprehensive restitution and that “the installation of a transparent mailbox be arranged at CNEL EP.”
The Encutro case investigates a conspiracy corruption in the public sector, which included senior officials of Guillermo Lasso’s government. The prosecution classified it as a case of connotation, explaining that a criminal organization composed of public officials and individuals made a planned and coordinated effort to “obtain unjustified economic benefits by means of their close position in politics and thus interfere with a public institution”. This political influence would allow “procurement and irregular entry of people into state-owned companies to obtain economic returns”.
In January 2023, the prosecutor’s office opened the Encuentro case after eight simultaneous raids in Guayaquil and Quito. Afterwards, Lasso’s government minister Francisco Jiménez assured a press conference at the Carondelet Palace in Quito that “the government of Ecuador confirms its firm position that what should be investigated will be investigated” and remained in what ““There is no criminal conspiracy or structure in the government of Ecuador.”
When the scandal broke, the now former president Lasso said in an interview with Plan Vwho has known his brother-in-law for at least 60 years and who is a an upright person. For his part, Carrera maintains to this day that the public prosecutor’s office has no evidence that he committed any wrongdoing and that the accusation is based on “lucubrations”. Carrera is under house arrest for being an older adult.
Several individuals involved in the plot had their trials suspended as they fled justice. For example, Hernán Luque was detained in Argentina, but his extradition to Ecuador has not yet been completed. He is joined by other former officials, businessmen and associates of the leaders of the corruption structure.
As part of the Encuentro case, Rubén Cherres, who was murdered on March 31, 2023 in a house on the beach with his girlfriend, boyfriend and property guard, was also investigated. Cherres has been linked to Dritan Gjika, an Albanian drug trafficker who is under investigation in the Pampa case but is on the run.