Trial in Bucaram case for organized crime still undated; the National Court began the process to extradite one of the accused from Peru

At the beginning of last February was the last postponement of the trial hearing, of the two that have occurred, in the case for the crime of organized crime against former president Abdalá Bucaram Ortíz, his son Jacobo Bucaram Pulley and three more people prosecuted for alleged irregularities in the marketing of masks and 21,0000 rapid tests to diagnose Covid-19 in the midst of a pandemic, and there is still no new date for the diligence.

The novelty in the case has been the arrest of Orietta Isabel Marengo, a Peruvian citizen who remained a fugitive from justice as one of the five people called to trial in this case. She was arrested on March 10 in Lima, Peru, by Interpol agents. (International Police, for its acronym in English) of that country.

Abdalá Bucaram and his son Jacobo are called to trial as alleged perpetrators of the crime of organized crime

On Marengo there was a red diffusion initially requested by the prosecutor of the Lidia Sarabia case. With that request finalized on March 8, the arrest was made in La Molina, an exclusive area of ​​the Peruvian capital, and the woman was immediately placed under the orders of the competent authorities. From Ecuador, in the National Court of Justice, the process for extradition has already begun.

The Peruvian citizen would be identified by the Prosecutor’s Office as a logistical arm of the organization. Through the monitoring carried out, it would have been defined that the 25-year-old woman was the one who acquired goods, including where they stayed or where the other members of the organization moved.

The document from the Interpol Peru Office indicates that Marengo was being investigated for the crime of delinquency organized for engaging in the irregular marketing of tests for Covid-19 and medical supplies in the context of the health emergency in Ecuador, between the months of March and October 2020.

It is also said that she, along with other defendants, could be involved in crimes such as unjustified private enrichment, fraud, malicious use of public documents, tax evasion and even crimes against life. Information from the file indicates that Marengo would have been a partner of the Israeli Shy Dahan, a foreigner who was murdered in the Guayaquil Penitentiary, after being arrested with the defendant in this case, the also Israeli Sheinman Oren.

Judge issued dismissal in favor of Abdalá Bucaram and his son Jacobo in case of rapid tests

Marengo together with the former agent of the Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT) of Quito, Leandro B., and the Israeli Sheinman Oren were called to trial for organized crime last October by Judge Geovanny Freire. In that hearing, the two Bucarams and the citizens Bryan P. and Verónica A.

After an appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office, a Court of the Provincial Court of Pichincha lifted the dismissals for Abdalá and Jacobo Bucaram and ratify the dice to the other two suspects. With this decision, five people finally remained on the list called to trial.

The trial hearing in this case was left in the hands of a Court made up of provincial judges. Silvana Velasco (speaker), Catterine Vásquez and Pablo Cello. They must define the new date for the installation of the trial stage.

Audios, skills and comparisons would be part of the evidence that prosecutor Sarabia maintains against the defendants and which she describes as forceful. For its part, the defense of the former president has reiterated that There are no elements that relate him or his son to the accused offense and believes that the motivation for criminal prosecution comes from the political. (I)