The Ecuadorian court ordered this Friday (05) preventive detention for Jorge Glaswho was vice-president of the country during the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017). Glas has been investigated for years and is accused of embezzling public funds. The politician is currently at the US embassy Mexico in Quito, awaiting the processing of a request for asylum.
Judge Felipe Córdova accepted the request presented by the State Attorney General, Diana Salazar, and ordered the preventive detention of Glas and another defendant in the same case, Carlos B., while Pablo O. ordered a ban on leaving the country .
The three were linked by the Public Ministry in a case that investigates an alleged crime of embezzlement (misappropriation of public funds) during the reconstruction process in the coastal province of Manabí, hit by a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale in April 2016. The Public Prosecutor's Office said it presented 85 evidence against the defendants throughout the hearing.
In the so-called “Reconstruction” case, the MP's investigation determined the alleged existence of a diversion of public money for the benefit of third parties, individuals and legal entities, who were contractors and supervisors of contracts signed without bidding, taking advantage of the state of emergency due to the earthquake. April 2016 that hit the country.
Glas, who was vice president in part of the governments of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) and Lenín Moreno (2017-2021), entered the Mexican embassy in Quito in December 17th – although there was no outstanding arrest warrant against him, according to the Attorney General's Office – and three days later he requested diplomatic asylum in Mexico. Members of the MP believe that the vice president knew in advance about the request for preventive detention.
Glas has been arrested before. The former vice president spent five years and four months in prison after being sentenced to eight years in a bribery case and six years in an illicit association case related to the bribery scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
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