An Ecuadorean court sentenced former president Lenín Moreno, 73, to five years in prison on Friday (28) for bribery (known as cohecho under Ecuadorean law), in a case over kickbacks paid by Chinese construction company Sinohydro in the building of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, the largest in the country. The conviction is a first-instance ruling and can be appealed, according to reporting by G1 and the Ecuadorean daily El Universo.

According to Ecuador's Attorney General's Office, Sinohydro paid around US$ 76 million in bribes, the equivalent of 4% of the project's cost, and Moreno's family allegedly received about US$ 1 million to favor the construction. The judges found that Moreno, who was vice president when the project was developed, intervened in the bidding and financing of the plant, according to El Universo's coverage. G1 reports that six other people were convicted in the case and that the National Court of Justice held four of the defendants, including Moreno, responsible for bribery. The former president's wife and other relatives received sentences of nearly three years for complicity.

Timeline of the case

The case involves around 20 defendants, including Chinese citizens and a former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador. Moreno served as vice president under Rafael Correa between 2007 and 2013, when the hydroelectric project was designed, and the plant began operating in 2016. After 31 days of hearings, the National Court's criminal tribunal closed the trial phase on July 10 and retired to deliberate. Prosecutors had requested sentences of six years and six months for the main defendants, plus a full reparation payment of US$ 76 million to the state. The sentence was read on Friday and, according to El Universo, convicted 20 defendants, with heavy payments and a permanent ban from holding public office. Two former managers of Coca Codo Sinclair and businessman Conto Patiño are also among those convicted.

Moreno denies the accusations. "I did not receive a single cent from Sinohydro," the former president said after the ruling, which he announced he will appeal. In statements carried by El Universo, he attributed the conviction to political persecution by his former ally Rafael Correa: "Correa offered to take revenge on me."

Correa's former ally

Moreno governed Ecuador from 2017 to 2021, elected with the backing of Correa, who led the country for a decade. The two broke apart after the inauguration, when the new president shifted to the right and moved closer to the United States. Correa lives in Belgium and was convicted in absentia in 2020 to eight years in prison in another corruption case, which involved companies such as Brazil's Odebrecht. Moreno, who uses a wheelchair, worked after his term as a UN special envoy on disability issues in Geneva and as the OAS representative for people with disabilities in Asunción.

The next step in the case is the defense's appeal, already announced by the former president. As of this report's publication, no date had been set for the appeal to be heard, and Moreno remains formally convicted only at first instance.