Lenín Moreno sentenced to five years in prison for bribes in Sinohydro case
Ecuador's National Court of Justice found former president Lenín Moreno guilty of bribery for favoring Chinese company Sinohydro. Twenty people were charged in the case.
Former Ecuadorian president Moreno convicted of bribery in Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric case
Ecuador's National Court of Justice (CNJ) has found former president Lenín Moreno—who held office between 2017 and 2021—guilty of bribery and sentenced him to five years in prison, according to Google News ES—Crime. The judges determined that Moreno received bribes to benefit Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro in the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, the largest in the country, during the period when he served as Vice President under Rafael Correa's administration.
The tribunal imposed the maximum sentence provided for and also ordered "permanent disqualification from holding public office" against the former president.
Convictions for family members and associates
Along with Moreno, twenty other people were charged in the case. Among them were his wife Rocío González, his daughter Irina, his brothers Edwin and Guillermo, his sister-in-law Marta González, his friend Conto Patiño and former Chinese ambassador Cai Runguo. All were found guilty, with the exception of one person whose innocence was confirmed.
González, his daughter and other immediate family members received sentences of two years and six months in prison. Patiño and former ambassador Cai Runguo were sentenced to the same five years as Moreno.
The flow of bribes according to the judgment
The CNJ judges established in the sentence that Sinohydro transferred millions of dollars to a business circle that subsequently distributed them among various companies and people in the former president's family circle.
According to the Public Ministry, Moreno and his family allegedly received more than one million dollars from a total of 76 million dollars that the Chinese company allegedly paid in bribes for the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, with a capacity of up to 1,500 megawatts in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Of that amount, 660,000 dollars allegedly reached Moreno's immediate circle illicitly: 220,000 dollars for him and his wife—allegedly in the form of housing and furnishings—and 440,000 dollars distributed among his brothers Edwin (350,000 dollars) and Guillermo (10,000 dollars), his daughter Irina (50,000 dollars), his sisters-in-law Jacqueline (10,000 dollars) and Martha (15,000 dollars), and his mother-in-law Aída Graciela (5,000 dollars).
The presiding judge stated, before Moreno and his wife present in the courtroom, that "the indirect benefit received through third parties does not set aside the assessment of the functional performance of the defendant, but rather contributes to the financial correlation which, as a whole, establishes the character of obtaining improper resources".
The Public Ministry sought a harsher sentence
The Public Ministry had requested in July a sentence of six years and six months in prison for Moreno, his wife, his daughter and seventeen other people, including former ambassador Cai Runguo. The tribunal set the sentence below that request.
The Public Ministry also requested that all defendants be disqualified from holding public office or maintaining contractual links with the State, that their rights to participate be suspended, that they be imposed a fine, payment of comprehensive reparation, public apologies and the installation of an "anti-corruption plaque" at the hydroelectric complex.
Moreno defends himself and accuses Correa
During a recess in the hearing—which lasted more than six hours as the tribunal detailed the configuration of the crime and individualised responsibilities—Moreno explained that he had attended in person because he wanted to "face it head on". He reiterated, as on previous occasions, that the trial was an alleged "revenge" orchestrated by former president Correa.
"I never signed anything, I took no action, omission or appointment that has any relation to that project... I have not received a single cent from Sinohydro," he stated. He attributed responsibility for the construction to Jorge Glas, who allegedly carried it out "on orders from Rafael Correa", and recalled that during his presidency he ordered investigations into the works, including the hydroelectric plant itself: "17,000 cracks were detected. I took the matter to the international criminal court so they would take charge of it".
Origin of the case: a 2019 journalistic investigation
The Sinohydro case came to light in 2019 when the news portal La Fuente published an investigation linking one of Moreno's brothers to alleged accounts in tax havens and a luxury property in Alicante, Spain, in an apparent triangulation through an opaque company.
That report revealed links and alleged irregularities that connected Moreno with the offshore company INA Investment, which triggered the Public Ministry's initial investigation into bribes allegedly received during his time as Vice President of Ecuador.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)