Ecuador Court Sentences Lenin Moreno to Five Years Prison

A court in Quito found former President Lenin Moreno guilty of bribery related to the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, the largest in Ecuador. Moreno was sentenced to five years in prison and permanently barred from holding public office. Due to his age and physical disability, the 73-year-old will serve his sentence under house arrest.

The court determined that Moreno helped the Chinese state-owned firm Sinohydro secure the $2 billion project during his tenure as vice president from 2007 to 2013. Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid approximately $76.1 million in bribes between 2008 and 2018 through shell companies and fraudulent consulting contracts, totaling 4% of the project's value. Moreno and his relatives reportedly received over $1 million of these funds.

Nineteen others were convicted alongside Moreno, including his wife, daughter, and two brothers, who received sentences of two years and six months. Former Chinese ambassador Cai Runguo also received a five-year sentence. All convicted parties must repay triple the amount of the illicit funds within 90 days.

Moreno denied the charges, arguing that investigators were looking in the wrong place and blaming former President Rafael Correa for the project's origins. This ruling makes Moreno the third former Ecuadorian president sentenced for corruption. The Ecuadorian government had previously reached a $400 million settlement with Sinohydro following technical failures and cracks in the dam.