Ecuador: former energy minister involved in Petroecuador’s scandal is arrested

On Monday, Ecuador’s Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of former Energy Minister Xavier Vera.

He is accused of bribery in a case involving the state oil company Petroecuador.

Vera, who was part of Guillermo Lasso’s government for six months until he resigned in October last year, is linked to a scandal in which public officials are accused of receiving money in exchange for positions within the oil company.

In a message on Twitter, the Prosecutor’s Office has said that the arrest seeks to “guarantee that the ex-minister of Energy and Mines appears at the hearing of formulation of charges”.

Vera’s apprehension occurs in parallel to an impeachment process being followed against the Ecuadorian head of state for the alleged commission of the crime of embezzlement of use in a contract of the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet (Flopec) and the conglomerate Amazonas Tanker Pool Company for the transportation of oil, which would have caused damages to the public coffers.

With information from LGI

News Ecuador, English news Ecuador, Ecuadorian politics, Petroecuador