‘The corrupt will be punished, then we’ll go after the money,’ Moreno says in weekly broadcast

On the night before Vice President Jorge Glas appears in court to face charges in the Odebrecht bribery scandal, President Lenin Moreno repeated his pledge to find and prosecute those guilty of corruption. “We will proceed without fear to pursue the guilty and make certain they pay for their crimes,” he said. “There will be due legal process but there will be no cover-ups.”

President Lenin Moreno

In his Monday night broadcast to the nation, Moreno said a secondary goal is to reclaim the millions of dollars paid in bribes. “I have ordered investigations and audits to determine where the money has gone. The intention is to reclaim as much as possible for the national treasury,” he said. In particular, he said, investigators are looking at international oil transactions.

Moreno said he was not interested in “interpreting and analyzing” the types of corruption that has been committed, an apparent reference to Tweets from former President Rafael Correa criticizing what he called the “selective” prosecution of former government officials.

“We don’t care who they are, if they have violated the law and the public trust, we will find and punish them,” Moreno said.

During the broadcast, the president also said he would not hesitate to go to voters with a public referendum if there is outside interference in the corruption investigation, again, a reference to remarks made by Correa of “activating the militants” to oppose Moreno’s agenda.