Viviana Velozpresident of the parliamentary commission on the case called “The Great Godfather”which investigates a alleged network of corruption in public companies of the electric sector of Ecuador, reported having received death threats. According to Veloz, the purpose of the intimidation was to prevent the progress of the case, in which, according to a journalistic investigation, the businessman was involved. Danilo Carrera, brother-in-law of President Guillermo Lasso. The threats would also seek to prevent the investigation of a filed police report on alleged links between drug trafficking and the Albanian mafiawhich mentions the participation of a businessman close to the government.
“With the logo of the Albanian mafia”
In a telematic session to advance the investigations of “The Great Godfather”, also known as “Encuentro”, Veloz announced the presentation of a complaint in the Prosecutor’s Office due to a death threat for a message “with the logo of the Albanian mafia”. : a word in Albanian that in Spanish means “deceased”, against the background of the flag of that Balkan country. The assembly member indicated that the note was left in the car of her adviser outside the Central University located in Quito.
In addition, Veloz revealed that death threats against his parents and family reached his Instagram account if he did not stop the investigation. “I hold the government publicly responsible for what may happen to me”warned the correísta parliamentarian during the session, and wondered: “If the political power hasn’t teamed up with the mafia, then why are they starting to threaten us with death?”
Veloz added that the complaint filed with the Prosecutor’s Office also includes the name of a legislator from the commission who told him last Friday: “Stop messing with the mafia, they are going to send you a message.” Police Lieutenant Colonel José Luis Erazokey witness to appear before the parliamentary committee, He also denounced having received threats and asked for protection.
In a statement, the investigative commission rejected the intimidation and death threats against Erazo, considering that the threats “seek to silence him to prevent the country from answering the full truth of the investigation (…) about citizens Danilo Carrera and Rubén Cherres, who allegedly have been linked to an international drug trafficking criminal structure”.
The telematic session held on Monday was not attended by José Luis Erazo or General Geovanni Ponce, financial administrative coordinator of the National Police. President Guillermo Lasso was also summoned, but did not attend.
The National Assembly, with the accompaniment of a total of 108 of the 135 assembly members present in the virtual session, approved on Tuesday a ten-day extension for the commission investigating the case to deliver its report. Veloz, from the Union for Hope bench close to former President Rafael Correa, reported that 19 sessions were held in the investigation of the case and 40,000 sheets of information were received.
“The Great Godfather”
the digital medium The mail revealed last month an alleged network of embezzlement of public funds and influence peddling in public companies in the electricity sector. The report mentions businessman Danilo Carrera, Lasso’s brother-in-law, as the supposed “godfather” of this structure, who emphatically rejects the accusations.
In addition to Carrera, the other two involved so far are Hernan Luque Lecaro y Reuben Cherres Faggioni. Between July 2021 and November 2022, Luque was a delegate of the presidency on the Board of Directors of the Public Companies Coordinating Company (EMCO), according to the newspaper Trade. Regarding Cherres, it is known that he did not hold public office although, according to documents provided by Assemblyman Ricardo Vanegas, he would be a shareholder in at least nine companies. Among his partners is the Albanian businessman Dritan Gjika.
The process started after The mail will post an audio on January 9th. It talks about payments related to appointments and contracts in state companies. Among others, the alleged delivery of a payment of 30,000 dollars to Carrera, a relative of Lasso, is mentioned.. The crimes under investigation are racketeering, bribery, money laundering and organized crime. The National Assembly goes further and aims to political responsibilities.
They evaluate reopening an anti-drug report
In another case that concerns Lasso, The Prosecutor’s Office evaluates reopening an anti-drug police report in which Cherres appears dotted, man close to the government. The report, prepared between May and July 2021, follows up on several people who allegedly met at the premises of a company that the police suspected was used by drug traffickers to send drugs abroad.
The attorney general warned that the transcripts of the telephone conversations intercepted during the preparation of that report, in which Cherres is heard boasting of his influence through his contacts in the government, are under “national secrecy.” Among the names mentioned by Cherres in the leaked audio is that of Agriculture and Livestock Minister Bernardo Manzanowho resigned a week ago, he said to avoid any suspicion.
Manzano denied having reached the government through Cherres, although he admitted to knowing him and even having given him his resume many months before being appointed minister. The dissemination of the report caused great discomfort in the government, which in a statement attacked the portal The mailalso in charge of uncovering this pot under the title “The Great Report”.
The Lasso government described it as “a confidential report” that had been “archived for more than a year at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office and by court order”, because “there were no merits to open a process.” In a message to the nation, Lasso He even said that the journalistic report is in the plane of a “false, fallacious and insulting cartoon”.
The disclosure of this document came at the most difficult moment of Lasso’s 20-month presidential term.after losing the referendum promoted by his government to apply reforms to the Constitution and seeing correísmo renewing its forces in the local elections on February 5.