Former Ecuador President Lenín Moreno Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison Over $76m Corruption Case

Former Ecuador President Lenín Moreno Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison Over $76m Corruption Case.

Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted in a corruption case linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric power plant.

Moreno, who served as president between 2017 and 2021, was among 20 people convicted over alleged bribery surrounding the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, which was constructed by Chinese company Sinohydro.

Prosecutors alleged that approximately $76 million in bribes were paid in connection with the project, representing about four per cent of its total cost.

The alleged corruption took place between 2007 and 2013, when Moreno was serving as vice-president under then-President Rafael Correa. Moreno later succeeded Correa as president with his backing, but the relationship between the two men deteriorated after Moreno moved politically to the right and strengthened ties with the United States.

Following Friday’s verdict, Moreno rejected the allegations and announced that he would appeal the sentence. Prosecutors had sought a six-and-a-half-year prison term for the former president.

Moreno’s wife and other family members were also convicted of complicity and sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

The 73-year-old former president, who is paraplegic and previously served as the United Nations special envoy on disability and accessibility, insisted that he never received money from Sinohydro.

“I have never received a single cent from Sinohydro,” Moreno said after the ruling, describing the case as an attempt by what he called “the Correa regime” to punish him.

He also accused Correa, who has himself been convicted of corruption and currently lives in Belgium, of seeking revenge following their political fallout.

“He promised to take revenge on me,” Moreno said.

Two former managers of the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant were also among those convicted in the case.

The Coca Codo Sinclair facility is Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric power project and plays a major role in supplying electricity to the country.