The Ecuadorian justice ordered this Thursday the house arrest of former President Abdalá Bucaram for his alleged responsibility in a corruption scheme that would have led to the murder in prison of an Israeli, reported the Prosecutor’s Office.
A Quito judge issued “house arrest (for being over 65 years old) with police surveillance 24 hours a day” for the ex-president in a hearing held at dawn, the accusing body said in a statement.
68 years old and dismissed by Parliament in 1997, six months after assuming the presidency, Bucaram is being investigated along with three officials from the Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT) of Quito for an intricate case of corruption during the health emergency caused by the pandemic.
Bucaram, who pleads innocence and declares himself a government hunt, had been arrested the day before after the scandal took a dramatic turn on Saturday with the murder of an Israeli in a penitentiary in Guayaquil (southwest).
Another man of the same nationality was also injured in the attack. Both had been arrested in June with $ 100,000 in their possession, which was allegedly part of an irregular negotiation with Jacobo Bucaram, son of the former president and who is a fugitive.
The foreigners, who according to the authorities also carried false credentials from the US anti-drug agency DEA, told the authorities that they sold the Bucaram tests to detect the new coronavirus. The tests would be part of a sale of medical supplies with a premium to public hospitals.
The Israelis were carrying adulterated documents that were allegedly given to them by AMT officials who were part of the bodyguard of former Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner, who He resigned a month ago without further explanation, although it remains close to the government of Lenín Moreno.
The Ecuadorian justice indicated that the ex-president Bucaram and the others involved must answer for “Unjustified private enrichment, fraud, fraudulent use of public documents, tax evasion, even, presumably, crimes against life”.
The Minister of Government (Interior), María Paula Romo, said on Wednesday that Abdalá Bucaram will also have to clarify if he has any relationship with the murder of the Israeli.
The ex-ruler was already under home surveillance, using an electronic shackle, for other corruption investigations.
Suspicions for arms trafficking and property assets are added to his file, which were found in a raid on his home in June, where medical supplies were also found.
As a result of the investigations that involve the Bucaram, the ex-governorutoproclaimed presidential candidate for the next February elections.
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