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Moreno convicted in bribery
Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno was sentenced to five years in prison after an Ecuadorian court found him guilty of accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, the Coca Codo Sinclair project.
“Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison”
The National Court of Justice in Quito ruled on Friday that Moreno was directly responsible for bribery while serving as vice president under former President Rafael Correa, and it permanently barred him from holding public office.
Moreno, 73, attended the reading of the verdict and, because of a physical disability that prevents him from walking, will serve his sentence under house arrest, according to reports.
Prosecutors alleged a corruption network operated between 2008 and 2018 and that Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro paid approximately $76.1 million in bribes through fraudulent consulting contracts.
The case centers on the roughly $2 billion Coca Codo Sinclair project, which began operating in 2016 and has faced technical and structural problems since becoming operational.
Judge and Moreno trade blows
Judge Manuel Cabrera, head of the tribunal, said while delivering the ruling that "Lenin Moreno's conduct is consistent with the charges brought by the prosecution: the crime of bribery attributed to a public official."
Moreno denied wrongdoing and 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," as he argued he did not sign or oversee contracts for the Coca Codo Sinclair project.
The attorney general’s office launched its investigation in March 2023, linking Moreno, family members, and local and Chinese business partners, including China’s former ambassador to Quito, Cai Runguo, to an alleged corruption network tied to the plant.
Prosecutors said Moreno’s wife and daughter, along with his two brothers and their wives, were also convicted and sentenced to two years and six months in prison, while Cai Runguo received a five-year sentence.
Reuters reported prosecutors had requested sentences of more than six years for Moreno and 19 other defendants, while the court ultimately imposed a five-year sentence.
What the ruling changes
The conviction made Moreno the third former Ecuadorian president to receive a corruption sentence, following Rafael Correa’s 2020 eight-year prison term in a separate bribery case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
“three times the amount they allegedly received illegally within 90 days”
The ruling also permanently barred Moreno from holding public office, and it ordered those convicted to repay illicitly obtained funds, with one report describing the repayment as "three times the amount they allegedly received illegally within 90 days."
The case’s focus on the Coca Codo Sinclair project has renewed scrutiny of the plant itself, with the prosecution alleging bribes equivalent to roughly 4% of the project’s value were distributed through domestic and international transactions.
Moreno served as Correa’s vice president from 2007 to 2013, then won the presidency in 2017 as the candidate of the Correísta movement and served until 2021, before returning to Ecuador from Paraguay to face trial.
While Moreno has denied the allegations and said he will appeal, the court’s decision placed his political career under the shadow of the Sinohydro-linked corruption proceedings tied to the hydroelectric project.