Ecuador's ex-president Moreno gets 5-year term in bribery case
Ecuador's former president Lenín Moreno sentenced to 5 years for bribery linked to a Chinese-built hydroelectric plant; will serve under house arrest.
A court in Ecuador has sentenced former President Lenín Moreno to five years in prison for his role in a bribery scheme tied to a Chinese-built hydroelectric project. The verdict, delivered on Friday, found that Moreno accepted bribes from the Chinese firm Sinohydro in exchange for helping the company secure a contract for the Coca Codo Sinclair plant.
Moreno, who is 73 and has a physical disability that prevents him from walking, was present in court for the ruling. Because of his condition, he will serve the sentence under house arrest.
The court convicted Moreno as a direct participant in the corruption network, which prosecutors said operated from 2008 to 2018. The scheme collected bribes equal to 4% of the project's value, with funds distributed through domestic and international transactions to officials and other beneficiaries, including Moreno. His wife, daughter, two brothers, and a brother-in-law were also convicted as accomplices; his wife and daughter each received 30-month sentences.
Sinohydro began construction of the roughly $2 billion Coca Codo Sinclair plant in 2010 and handed it over to Ecuador in 2016. The project has since faced criticism over structural defects.
Moreno, a tourism entrepreneur, rose to prominence in 2007 when he became vice president under Rafael Correa, who governed Ecuador for a decade. Moreno served until 2013. In 2017, he won the presidency as a candidate of the Correísta movement, with Jorge Glas as his running mate. Glas later left office and is now serving a prison sentence for corruption.
Moreno is the third former Ecuadorian president to be sentenced for corruption, though his conviction relates to crimes committed before he became president. Correa was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in a bribery case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht but remains in Belgium. Former President Jamil Mahuad was sentenced in 2014 to eight years for misuse of public funds, and former President Abdalá Bucaram is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of organized crime.