QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno is removing his vice president, who faces allegations that as a congresswoman she demanded kickbacks from a staff member.
Moreno on Monday named top aide Jose Briones to occupy the vice presidency while Maria Alejandra Vicuna defends herself in a probe by Ecuador's chief prosecutor.
Briones is Ecuador's third vice president since Moreno took office last year. The president's running mate, Jorge Glas, was stripped of his duties when he was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in the previous government.
Vicuna has acknowledged receiving deposits from a staffer but said they were not mandatory kickbacks as her opponents allege.
Moreno has been trying to clean up Ecuador's reputation for corruption in the wake of graft scandals that proliferated during his predecessor's presidency.
