A court has ordered preventive detention for the prefect of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Johana Núñez, who is under investigation for an alleged crime of illicit enrichment. Núñez won the last provincial elections with the support of the opposition movement Revolución Ciudadana.
The detention measure was adopted in a hearing for the formulation of charges, in which the seizure of assets for 309,646 dollars (about 266,700 euros) was also decreed and the prohibition of selling or transferring her assets, according to information published by the portal Ecuador Inmediato.
During the process, the Prosecutor's Office raised the need for preventive detention in a case that the leader has labeled as "slander." At the same time, Núñez has expressed her willingness to cooperate with all the proceedings of the investigation.
The politician took office as the Prefect of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas in 2019 and was ratified in the position for a second term in the 2023 elections, in which she again received the support of the opposition party Revolución Ciudadana.