Who are the Isaias brothers, the two Ecuadorian millionaires who were arrested in Miami?

Two millionaires from Ecuador, who are fugitives of justice in this country, were arrested Wednesday by the US immigration authorities in Miami. Roberto and William IsaíasThe 74 and 75 year old were taken to a detention center on Wednesday where undocumented immigrants are waiting to be deported, the Federal Agency for Law Enforcement said on Friday. Immigration and Customs (ICE).

The families of the two men gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to political campaigns in the United States as they struggled to stay in this country. It was not known immediately what had forced the authorities to make arrests, but the statements of the CIE indicated that the brothers were "present illegally" in the United States.

The Isaias brothers are two repudiated bankers in Ecuador for enriching their wealth in the late '90s, by the time their bank collapsed with the disappearance of the savings of tens of thousands of their clients. An Ecuadorian court sentenced them for embezzlement. in 2012. They were sentenced in absentia because they had settled in South Florida almost ten years earlier.

The brothers vehemently denied the accusations that they ransacked the bank and claimed that the Ecuadorian government politicized the case and unfairly seized its badets. They still have lawsuits in court to try to recover their property in Ecuador.

Ecuador calculated that the two brothers had cost the country $ 400 million and had been asking for extradition for years. At one point, even the US ambbadador to Ecuador pleaded for his swift return, accusing both men of having funded a $ 2 million bribe for the Attorney General to Ecuador abandons the case.

While the criminal case was taking place in Ecuador, money began to flow in the United States. The relatives of the Isaias brothers gave tens of thousands of dollars to US congressmen and $ 90,000 to help re-elect Barack Obama.

After donating to the Obama campaign, the Justice Department rejected Ecuador 's request for extradition, saying it was lacking evidence. The Ecuadorian government then accused Washington of rejecting his request in exchange for checks. The Obama administration said the donations had nothing to do with their decisions.

A new request for extradition is pending, said Alvin B. Davis, the Ecuadorian government's attorney in Miami. The Department of Justice said that it was ICE that should answer questions about the case.

The Isaias brothers are now scheduled to appear at a hearing in the immigration court, said Nestor J. Yglesias, a spokesman for ICE. Davis said that the government of Ecuador won a civil lawsuit in Florida against his brothers and was preparing to claim $ 1.3 billion in damages. The arrests, he said, had left him satisfied.

"They have to be responsible after all these years," said Davis.

Isaias lawyer in Ecuador, Jorge Zavala Egas, asked about the arrest of journalist Alfredo J. Balsera, a journalist from South Florida. On the phone, Balsera said the New York Times acted "in bad faith" in previous articles on the Isaias case and refused to make any statements.

In a 2014 interview, Roberto Isaías denied asking for favors in exchange for political donations.

"My family has donated to about twenty members of Congress who are fighting for human rights and freedom of expression in Latin America," he said. "It's legal."

* Copyright: c.2019 New York Times News Service