Oil Company Corruption Scandal Threatens Ecuador's Political Elite

Interpol has joined the hunt for a former Ecuadorian government minister and head of its state oil company, who is on the run from a corruption scandal that echoes Brazil's "Car Wash" investigation in its threat to corrupt elites.

InSight Crime - James Bargent 07/11/2016

Interpol has joined the hunt for a former Ecuadorian government minister and head of its state oil company, who is on the run from a corruption scandal that echoes Brazil's "Car Wash" investigation in its threat to corrupt elites.

On November 3, Interpol issued a capture order for Jorge Pareja Yannuzzelli, who fled Ecuador in September.

Pareja, who was the minister for hydrocarbons between November 2015 and April 2016 and had previously headed state oil company Petroecuador, is subject to a preventative detention order alongside eight others, all of whom are accused of bribery, reported La Hora.

Pareja and his associates stand accused of taking bribes in exchange for Petroecuador state contracts and then concealing the money in offshore accounts in Panama. According to prosecutors, $1 million in suspect funds were deposited in Pareja's accounts during his time as minister, reported El Universo.

President Rafael Correa denounced the case as "the most serious act of corruption" seen in close to a decade of his administration.

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