Ecuador prosecutor to present corruption case against vice president

Ecuador's top prosecutor said on Monday he would present evidence of corruption against the country's embattled vice president, who was stripped of his duties by a presidential decree that stopped short of firing him earlier this month.

Vice President Jorge Glas was sidelined early this month by President Lenin Moreno, who accused him of not being a team player after the vice president said the government was publishing false economic data.

Prosecutor Carlos Baca told reporters his office had evidence of "illicit association" against Glas, in a case linked to the regional corruption scandal centering on Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

"We will request the National Court of Justice set a hearing date against Jorge Glas, the vice president," Baca read from a statement. Before the court can hear the evidence, a minimum 92 of Ecuador's 137 members of congress must vote to allow an investigation into a sitting vice president.

Glas says he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

"I have never allowed corruption or been a part of it," he told a news conference called after Baca's announcement.

Odebrecht is involved in a sprawling corruption saga and has already paid $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland, embroiling politicians across Latin America.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)