Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno Sentenced to Five Years in Corruption Case

Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.

The ruling was delivered on Friday, August 28, by Ecuador’s National Court of Justice. Moreno, 73, was convicted as a direct participant in a bribery scheme connected to the award of the approximately $2 billion hydroelectric project to Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro.

Although Moreno served as Ecuador’s president from 2017 to 2021, the corruption case concerns activities dating largely to his earlier period as vice president under former President Rafael Correa, when prosecutors said the bribery network was operating.

Prosecutors alleged that approximately $76.1 million in bribes were paid between 2009 and 2018 through fraudulent consulting contracts connected to the Coca Codo Sinclair project.

Investigators said money was transferred through overseas accounts and companies, with more than $1 million allegedly reaching Moreno and members of his family while he was vice president between 2007 and 2013.

The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric facility, built by Sinohydro, began operating in 2016. The project has subsequently faced criticism over structural and technical problems.

Moreno has consistently denied the allegations. During the proceedings, he maintained that he neither signed nor supervised the contracts involved in the project and accused prosecutors of pursuing the wrong person.

Despite the five-year prison sentence, Moreno will serve his sentence under house arrest because of a physical disability that prevents him from walking.

The court also permanently barred him from holding public office in Ecuador.

Moreno was not the only person convicted. His wife, daughter, two brothers and other associates were also found guilty of involvement in the corruption scheme. His wife and daughter were each sentenced to 30 months in prison, while other defendants received varying sentences.

A former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador, Cai Runguo, was also sentenced to five years in prison, according to Reuters.

The case makes Moreno the third former Ecuadorian president to receive a corruption sentence, following Rafael Correa and Jamil Mahuad.

Moreno returned to Ecuador from Paraguay to face the proceedings after previously living outside the country.