Caso Apagón: Prosecutors Move to Charge 21 Officials Over $100 Million in 2024 Blackout Contracts

The Fiscalía General del Estado (Ecuador's Attorney General) is seeking a court date to formally charge 21 individuals with peculado (embezzlement) in what has become known as the Caso Apagón — the criminal investigation into contracts signed during Ecuador's 2024 energy crisis.

The Alleged Scheme

The investigation centers on contracts between Celec (Corporación Eléctrica del Ecuador — the state power company) and Progen, a private contractor. During the 2024 energy emergency, the government authorized direct contracts — bypassing normal procurement procedures — to rapidly add thermoelectric generation capacity.

Prosecutors allege those contracts caused more than $100 million in damages to the state, divided between two energy projects in Guayas and Los Ríos provinces.

Who's Named

The Attorney General has not publicly released the full list of 21 accused. Two partial identifications have emerged:

• Fabián C. — former Celec manager
• Antonio G. — former Energy Minister

The prosecution office stated: "el Ministerio Público no especificó los nombres de las personas que están en esta lista."

Timeline

| Date | Event | |------|-------| | 2024 | Energy crisis; emergency contracts authorized | | 2025 | Raids on Celec offices and thermal power plants | | April 29, 2026 | Prosecution requests hearing date for formal charges | | TBD | Formal charges hearing |

What This Means for Expats

If you lived through the 2024 blackouts, this is the accountability chapter. The power cuts that darkened cities for 8–12 hours per day across Ecuador were caused by drought conditions, inadequate maintenance, and a generation system underinvested for years. Now prosecutors are alleging that the emergency response itself was compromised by corruption.

The $100 million question matters. That money was supposed to buy emergency power generation. If it was embezzled or misspent, it means the blackouts lasted longer than they had to — and the infrastructure built during the crisis may be less capable than what was promised.

This case is separate from the CNEL billing fraud. Ecuador's electricity sector now faces simultaneous criminal investigations on two fronts: billing manipulation (CNEL, $300M+) and procurement corruption (Celec/Caso Apagón, $100M+). Combined, these cases suggest systemic dysfunction in the sector that manages the country's power grid.

Source: El Telégrafo