google translation with hasty clean-up

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eluniverso.com | 07h09 8 de julio del 2008 | Guayaquil, Ecuador

July 08, 2008

Quito | EFE

The Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD) confirmed on Tuesday that it has "seized" 195 companies, including Gamavision and TC Television, linked to the so-called Isaiah Group.

The president of Ecuador said in an email that the Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD) has arranged "the seizure of all property owned by former managers and shareholders of Filanbanco (Isaiah Group) on December 2, 1998."

Losses of that company, according to the Banking Board, amounting to 661 million dollars, added the statement.

"The seizure is for all businesses related to the Isaiah Group. A total of 195 including: agriculture, commerce, insurance, construction, media, yachts, planes and other immovable property" she adds.

Dozens of policemen blocked the entrance this morning to television channels in Quito and Guayaquil - TC Television and Gamavision.

Against this background, a manager of Gamavision in Quito, Carlos Dassum, told journalists they have been "killed" because there is no warrant for such action.

In the statement, the president said that "with this measure, which should have been taken ten years ago, hope is reborn in the hundreds of citizens who were never returned their money after the bankruptcy of Filanbanco."

He stressed further that such seizure "does not violate any labour law nor paralyzes none of the companies in question and the Ecuadorian State guarantees security and stability".

"This is a direct intervention of the AGD in the debtor firms, which will appoint a temporary administrator to continue to function normally" she adds.

The President recalled that measures like this, "in favor of the State and resources of citizens" have been taken in the past. In March 2002, the AGD seized the shares in The Daily Telegraph and electric companies Guayaquil (Emelec), formed with funds of Banco del Progreso, whose president was Fernando Aspiazu.

The newspaper The Telegraph has now become the first public newspaper in the country. [1]

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[1] ebear notes that it's also the biggest supporter of AP & Correa.

Check it out: http://www.telegrafo.com.ec