Corruption in South America contracting ensnares Ecuador VP

BBC:
Map of world with 12 countries coloured blue and four coloured green
The vice-president of Ecuador has been sentenced to six years in jail in connection with corruption at the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Jorge Glas is the highest-ranking politician to be convicted in the scandal that has spread across Latin America and further afield.

Prosecutors said he took $13.5m (£10.2m) in bribes.

The president had removed his duties from him, and he had been in preventative custody since October.

He is the highest-ranking politician to be convicted in the Odebrecht scandal.

The company routinely gave bribes to win business, particularly in government contracts. It has admitted to paying $788m in bribes across 12 countries.
Odebrecht's massive web of corruption

Glas was arrested on 2 October.

Vice-president since 2013, he was re-elected to the post in February. But with corruption allegations mounting against him, he was relieved of his duties by President Lenín Moreno in August.

As part of a plea deal, former top Odebrecht executive in Ecuador Jose Conceicao Santos revealed that the company had paid $33.5m in bribes since 2007 to secure infrastructure contracts in the country.
...
 There is more on this massive bribery scandal that involved bribes in all but a very few countries south of the Texas border with Mexico.  Corruption like this is a way of robbing the people in these countries by increasing the price they have to pay for goods and services to enrich political figures.

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