Interpol red notice issued for former Ecuadorian president Mahuad

The international police agency ( Interpol) issued a "red notice" against former Ecuadorian president Jamil Mahuad for the crime of embezzlement, said the South American country's authorities on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Jose Serrano said in his Twitter account that the Interpol had issued a red notice arrest warrant for Jamil Mahuad, noting that with the warrant, Mahuad, who currently resides in the United States, has to face remand order against him by Ecuador's National Court of Justice.

Serrano did not give any details about the time when the warrant was issued.

Mahuad, 64, was elected the president of Ecuador during the period 1998-2002, but did not complete his term as he was overthrown in January 2000.

Mahuad had allegedly committed the offense to declare a bank holiday in 1999, which led to the freezing of accounts and replacing Ecuador's sucre with the U.S. dollars, causing a severe economic crisis and shutdown of half of Ecuador's 42 banks in the Andean country.

He was forced to resign after a week of demonstrations by Ecuadorians and a military revolt led by Lucio Gutierrez.

In December 2012, the National Court of Justice (CNJ) issued a remand order and garnishee against Mahuad, on trial for misappropriating public funds, but the request was denied by the Interpol.

On Oct. 24 last year, the same court initiated through the Foreign Ministry a new extradition of Mahuad, and a month later, the prosecutor, Attorney General Gallo Chiriboga, asked the maximum penalty for the former president.