Ecuador Ex-President Lenin Moreno Jailed for Sinohydro Bribery Case

Former Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes linked to a major Chinese-backed hydroelectric project.

Moreno, 73, was convicted on Friday for his role in a bribery scheme involving Sinohydro, the Chinese company that secured a contract to build Ecuador's Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant. Because Moreno has a physical disability that prevents him from walking, he will serve the sentence under house arrest.

The verdict makes Moreno the third former Ecuadorian president to be sentenced for corruption.

MORENO FOUND GUILTY IN SINO-ECUADOR BRIBERY CASE

The case dates back to Moreno's time as vice president under former President Rafael Correa, before Moreno himself became president in 2017.

Prosecutors alleged that a corruption network operated between 2008 and 2018 and collected bribes equivalent to 4 per cent of the value of projects carried out by Sinohydro.

According to prosecutors, the money was moved through domestic and international transactions before being distributed among public officials and other beneficiaries, including Moreno.

The court determined that Moreno was a direct participant in the bribery scheme.

His family members were also convicted as accomplices. His wife and daughter were each sentenced to 30 months in prison, while his two brothers and a brother-in-law were also found guilty.

USD 2 BILLION HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT AT CENTRE OF CASE

The corruption case centred on the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, one of Ecuador's largest infrastructure projects.

Sinohydro began construction of the project in 2010. The roughly USD 2 billion plant was handed over to Ecuador in 2016.

The project has subsequently faced criticism over structural defects, adding to scrutiny surrounding the circumstances in which the major contract was awarded.

The bribery allegations therefore involved a project of major economic importance to Ecuador and highlighted concerns over corruption in large public infrastructure contracts.

MORENO'S POLITICAL RISE

Moreno first became nationally prominent in 2007 when he was appointed vice president under Rafael Correa.

He served as vice president until 2013, when Jorge Glas succeeded him. Moreno later returned to national politics and won the presidency in 2017 as the candidate of the Correista political movement associated with Correa.

Jorge Glas served as his running mate.

Moreno's relationship with Correa subsequently deteriorated after he became president, as the two moved politically apart.

Glas himself later left office and is serving a prison sentence in connection with corruption.

ECUADOR'S FORMER PRESIDENTS FACE CORRUPTION CASES

Moreno's conviction adds to a long list of Ecuadorian former presidents who have faced corruption-related convictions or proceedings.

Rafael Correa was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison in a bribery case involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. Correa has continued to live in Belgium.

Former President Jamil Mahuad was sentenced in 2014 to eight years for misuse of public funds.

Another former president, Abdala Bucaram, has been convicted of organised crime and is awaiting sentencing.

Moreno's five-year sentence therefore adds another former head of state to Ecuador's record of high-profile corruption cases.

The verdict also closes a case connected to alleged bribery during Moreno's years as vice president, before he went on to lead Ecuador as president.