Ecuadorian court freezes ex-President Rafael Correa's bank account in corruption probe

FILE PHOTO: Ecuador's former president, Rafael Correa, is pictured ahead of an interview with Reuters in Brussels, Belgium, October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's Attorney General's Office said on Friday that through a local court it had frozen the bank accounts of many business leaders and former government officials, including former President Rafael Correa and members of his administration, who were sentenced last year for breaking campaign finance laws.

Correa and 19 others, including his former vice president who is in prison for another corruption case, were accused of accepting $7.5 million in bribes in exchange for public contracts to finance his party's electoral campaigns between 2012 and 2016.