Guayaquil-Cuenca petroleum pipeline is at center of latest Odebrecht arrests

National Police made two more arrests in the Odebrecht bribery scandal over the weekend, one for alleged illegal payments to the project manager of a $370 million petroleum pipeline from the port of Guayaquil to Cuenca.

Police search the home of Ramiro Carrillo Saturday.

In Saturday raids in northern Quito, Ramiro Carrillo and Diego Cabrera were taken into custody based on charges filed by prosecutor Diana Salazar. Police confiscated computers, jewelry, cash, cell phones, and personal files in the operation.

In addition to accepting bribes, both men are accused money laundering and tax evasion for concealing bank accounts in Curaçao, Panama and Belize.

According to Salazar, Carrillo, received $202,000 in 2013 from a company with ties with Odebrecht while he was managing construction of the Pascuales-Cuenca Poliducto pipeline project. Carrillo was transport manager for state-owned Petroecuador during construction of the pipeline.

The prosecutor’s office says that Cabrera, also a manager at Petroecuador, was an officer in 22 off-shore companies allegedly involved in processing Odebrecht bribes.

Carrillo, who is 66, was placed under house arrest while Cabrera was sent to jail in Quito. Attorneys for both men claim their clients are innocent.