EX-ECUADOR PRESIDENT MORENO GETS FIVE-YEAR JAIL TERM OVER $76M BRIBERY CASE

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By: Balogun Ibrahim

An Ecuadorian court has sentenced former President Lenin Moreno to five years in prison after finding him guilty of accepting bribes connected to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric power plant.

Moreno, who governed Ecuador from 2017 to 2021, was one of 20 people convicted in the corruption case involving the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, constructed by Chinese firm Sinohydro.

Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid approximately $76 million in bribes, equivalent to about four per cent of the project’s total cost.

Moreno, 73, denied receiving any money from the Chinese company, insisting after Friday’s verdict that he had not received “a single cent” from Sinohydro.

The former president blamed the case on the administration of his predecessor and former political ally, Rafael Correa, accusing him of pursuing the case as an act of political revenge following their falling-out.

Moreno served as Correa’s vice-president from 2007 to 2013 before succeeding him as president. Their relationship later deteriorated after Moreno distanced himself from Correa’s socialist policies and strengthened ties with the United States.

The court also handed nearly three-year prison sentences to Moreno’s wife and other relatives for their alleged roles in the corruption scheme.

Two former managers of the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant were also convicted in the case.

Prosecutors had sought a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Moreno.

The former president has said he intends to appeal the judgment.