The comptroller Carlos Riofrío made the president of the Audit Commission, Fernando Villavicencio, aware of this report, which has been hidden for six years.
One Criminal Responsibility Report (IRP) on fictitious exports through the Unitary System of Regional Compensation (Sucre) carried out by the Comptroller’s Office was hidden for at least six years, as revealed yesterday the president of the Audit Commission, Fernando Villavicencio.
At, The Comptroller’s Office, which carried out a special examination of the operations, determined the criminal responsibility of at least 31 officials who held high positions in the Rafael Correa government. Those involved held functions in the management of the General Banking Directorate, Directorate of International Services, General Audit of the Central Bank, also several dependencies of the Ecuadorian Customs Service (Senae), the Directorate of the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) and other dependencies intermediate.
However, this report, signed by Yolanda Velasco Dávila, Director of the Central Administration Audit, and which was sent to the former prosecutor Galo Chiriboga, on August 26 by the Sponsorship Directorate of the Comptroller’s Office, It did not have an echo in the Prosecutor’s Office.
However, last Wednesday, after a visit by the president of the Supervisory Commission to the current controller, Carlos Alberto Riofrío, the existence of the report was revealed.
The Report with Indications of Criminal Responsibility It was generated around exports through the Unitary System of Regional Compensation (Sucre) made by different companies from Ecuador to Venezuela and other entities related to the process in the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) for the period between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2013.
According to the report, the corresponding inquiries were made in the SRI and the Senae. In the first institution, it had been established that many of the companies that carried out their operations in Sucre did not have their taxes up to date, others did not have the necessary information on the companies.
The Senae provided important information. For example, he recounted how in 2010 the Association of Textile Industries of Ecuador (AITE) filed a complaint stating that they were surprised by the unusual growth of 3,000% in textile exports to Venezuela. Said complaint was analyzed and alleged overvaluations were found in exported merchandise, with minimal profit margins. In addition, it was indicated by the Senae that substantial money outflows were generated in banks located in Peru, the United States, Panama and Venezuela, and it is explained that this is a probable type of money laundering. It also warns of a possible risk of increase in assets of the people involved in Ecuador.
Among the findings of that 2015 report it was also reported on overvaluation of tuna exports. In addition, the existence of exports of machinery for livestock with 6,000% overvaluation. The same topic on vitamin supplements 17,000% increase in values, while the weight had only had a rise of 600% more.
The system theme Sucre became effective again after the Control Commission initiated an investigation in this regard, upon learning of the participation of Álex Saab and his partner Álvaro Pulido in the transactions in operations between Ecuador and Venezuela with their company Foglocons.
The Commission convened to various officials who now appear in the Comptroller’s report, to provide information. Some attended, others did not appear.
After the approval of the report made by the Audit Commission, Assembly members Fernando Villavicencio and Ana Belén Cordero were received by the comptroller Carlos Riofrío and delivered the audit report of the Alex Saab, Foglocons and Sucre system case, with 10,000 sheets of supporting documentary evidence. Riofrío then made known the existence of this 2015 report. He also undertook to review the documentation of the report approved by the Audit Commission.
Central Bank asks to evaluate pertinence of security in Sucre System
The two legislators met with the manager of the Central Bank, Guillermo Avellán, and delivered the report of the Supervision Commission. ANDn the meeting with the BCE manager, the assembly members urged the authority to request information from the Regional Monetary Council (CMR) of Sucre, in Venezuela, on the minutes of its board of directors, certifications on the parity and change of one bolivar against to a sucre and the way in which the Central Bank of Venezuela returned the dollars advanced by our Central Bank to the exporting companies.
Avellán reported that on October 22, 2021, the ECB sent a technical report to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the State Attorney General’s Office in which the State is recommended to evaluate the relevance of continuing to be part of the Sucre system. Guillermo Avellán stated that there is uncertainty about the state of the $ 2’309,736.5 that Ecuador contributed to Sucre from the Single Treasury Account. There is no clarity on whether Ecuador could receive these resources back in case it decides to exit the system, since the Bank for Economic and Social Development of Venezuela (Bandes), the bank administrator of the funds, has been sanctioned by European organizations that have executed the seizure of money. Avellán revealed that on several occasions they have requested the CMR to return the funds, without a positive response.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
