Ecuador’s attorney general’s office on Friday raided offices at state-run oil company Petroecuador and an office at the presidency, as part of investigations into alleged corruption.
Prosecutors also targeted Petroecuador’s offices in raids last November, after receiving information from authorities in the United States about a case involving a former company official, and the former energy minister resigned amid a separate investigation into bribery accusations, which he denies.
“The attorney general’s office and police are searching the management and procurator offices of Petroecuador and the judicial sub-secretary of the presidency in Quito. Evidence related to the investigation for the alleged crime of corruption is being collected,” the attorney general’s office said on Twitter.
President Guillermo Lasso’s communications office said it would fully cooperate with prosecutors.
“The government reiterates its zero tolerance against corruption. The government ratifies its commitment and firm stance in favor of transparency,” it said in a statement on Twitter.
Petroecuador retweeted the government’s statement and added in its own post on Twitter that its board of directors would hold an urgent extraordinary meeting.