Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno sentenced to 5 years in prison in bribery case

A court in Ecuador sentenced former President Lenín Moreno to five years in prison, convicting him in a bribery case linked to the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower plant, the country’s largest power generation facility, and permanently barred him from holding any public office.

According to the Associated Press, the 73-year-old Moreno will serve his sentence under house arrest due to a physical disability that prevents him from walking.

The court convicted Moreno as a direct participant in the bribery scheme during his tenure as Vice President under Rafael Correa. The judgments encompassed 20 individuals, including members of his family and others connected to the case.

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The court also sentenced several convicted accomplices to 30 months in prison and ordered the convicts to repay three times the amounts they illicitly obtained within a 90-day deadline.

According to Ecuador’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, the bribes related to the project totaled approximately $76.1 million between 2009 and 2018. Investigations revealed that more than $1 million reached Moreno and close members of his family through accounts and companies linked to the scheme.

Following his conviction, Moreno maintained his innocence, asserting that he did not sign or oversee the project contracts, and denied receiving funds from the Chinese company involved in the case. He also accused his political opponents of orchestrating the prosecution.

The Chinese company began construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair plant in 2010, handing it over to Ecuador in 2016, with the project costing approximately $2 billion.

Moreno is the third former president of Ecuador to face convictions in corruption cases, although the current case pertains to acts committed before he assumed the presidency.