Former Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of bribery in a corruption case linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric power plant.
The 73-year-old former president was also permanently barred from holding public office, according to the country’s public prosecutor’s office on Friday, August 28.
The case centres on the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, which began operations in 2016 but has experienced technical problems since its inauguration.
Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation in March 2023 into allegations that Moreno, members of his family and local and Chinese business partners participated in a corruption network connected to the project.
Delivering the ruling, Judge Manuel Cabrera, head of the tribunal, said Moreno’s conduct was consistent with the prosecution’s case and constituted bribery by a public official.
Prosecutors alleged that Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro paid approximately $76.1 million in bribes between 2009 and 2018 through fraudulent consulting contracts.
Moreno’s wife and daughter, along with his two brothers and their wives, were also convicted and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. Cai Runguo, China’s former ambassador to Quito, received a five-year prison sentence.
According to prosecutors, the alleged bribe payments were transferred through overseas bank accounts and shell companies in tax havens before being channelled to Moreno’s family and associates.
The prosecution further alleged that Moreno and close relatives received more than $1 million during his tenure as Ecuador’s vice president between 2007 and 2013.
Moreno, however, has consistently denied the allegations and maintained that he had no involvement in signing or supervising contracts for the hydroelectric project.
During the trial, he told the court: “You’re looking in the wrong place. Look at those who signed the contracts, at those who had the habit of demanding kickbacks.”
Moreno served as Ecuador’s president from 2017 to 2021. He returned to Ecuador from Paraguay to face trial in the corruption case.
