Judge Susana Sotomayor summoned former directors of the company such as Marcelo Almeida as direct author, and Hugo Chalen and Paúl Bolaños as co-authors, in addition to the legal representation of said entity as mediate author, to be tried soon.

Furukawa, a company with Japanese capital, was established in the Ecuadorian province of Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas in 1963 and is dedicated to cultivation and processing of abaca, a plant from which very resistant vegetable fibers are obtained, used in manufacturing paper.

A 2019 journalistic investigation revealed the systematic violation of rights of those who lived and worked on the plantations of that firm.

Inhumane working conditions: lack of drinking water, light and sanitation; working days of over 10 hours without contracts or social security; overcrowding; child labor; among others were the abuses committed against the hundred workers of Furukawa.

In a previous legal process, the Provincial Court of Santo Domingo exempted the Ecuadorian state from responsibility, despite the fact that the Ministries of Labor and Health were aware of that case of modern slavery and did not take action, according to those affected.

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