QUITO, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's Prosecutor General Carlos Baca on Thursday officially charged Vice President Jorge Glas and 12 others of conspiracy in relation to a bribery scheme involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
During the hearing held on Thursday morning, Baca presented evidence linking the vice president to the scheme. Glas, who has been in jail since Oct. 2 awaiting trial, has denied any wrongdoing.
The accused include the former comptroller Carlos Polit, who had fled to the United States, as well as former executives of Odebrecht.
At the hearing, Baca said Glas' uncle Ricardo Rivera, acting on behalf of Glas, requested and received more than 13 million U.S. dollars from Odebrecht.
Brazilian citizen Jose Conceicao Santos, former superintendent director of Odebrecht in Ecuador up to 2016, was initially among those charged, but will not face trial here because he has already been convicted and given an eight-year sentence by the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court.
However, Baca made it clear that Santos was the key operator of the scheme, bribing government officials to secure lucrative public works contracts.
The scheme was Odebrecht's modus operandi in some 12 countries from 2007 to 2016, arranging payouts of more than 33.5 million dollars in Ecuador alone, said prosecutors.
