Mayor of Esmeraldas in preventive custody on suspicion of money laundering
Mayor Vicko Villacís and seven other detainees will remain in preventive custody on suspicion of money laundering linked to criminal groups.
Mayor of Esmeraldas remanded in custody following money laundering operation
An Ecuadorian judge ordered preventive custody for the mayor of Esmeraldas, Vicko Villacís, from the correísta movement Revolución Ciudadana, who was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of money laundering, the Prosecutor's Office reported on Thursday according to infobae.com. The seven other arrested individuals in the same operation will also remain in provisional custody.
Interior Minister John Reimberg detailed that the investigation determined that the company Reypezpacific S.A. — of which Villacís owns 98 per cent of the shares — maintained links with persons and companies under investigation for money laundering. Among those companies is Pezymar Export S.A.S., prosecuted for that crime and directly related to Flavio Leonardo Briones Chiquito, alias "Mexicano", leader of the criminal group Los Lobos, and to Mendoza Tuárez Génesis Michelle, both murdered in Manta in 2025.
According to the investigation, the structure would have obtained approximately 17 million dollars of allegedly illicit origin, attempting to conceal them through related companies, transfers to third parties and complex financial operations. The Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE) identified transfers of approximately 7 million dollars to various beneficiaries.
Among the other detainees are Jorge Bolívar P.G., judge of the Judicial Council in Nueva Loja (province of Sucumbíos), and former judge Kleber Andrés S.T. Also arrested were Luis Jheovanny R.T., who allegedly benefited from cash money derived from legal actions against the state company Petroecuador; Juan Alberto L.C., lawyer in that case; and Diego Geovanny M.T., official of the Judicial Unit of Atacames.
Also detained were Carol Zuleyka L.H., official of an NGO and of the Esmeraldas municipality, and Jonathan Geovanny M.B., official of the Judicial Unit of Atacames.
Reimberg also linked several of the detainees to a fire that occurred last March at the Esmeraldas refinery, the country's most important, which forced Ecuador to increase imports of diesel and petrol. "It was not an accident, it was an act committed to harm Ecuadorians in amounts exceeding one hundred million dollars," the minister stated.
Source: Google News EC — Crime