A court in Ecuador has sentenced former President Lenin Moreno to five years in prison for accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Moreno, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was among 20 people convicted in the corruption case involving the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, which was constructed by Chinese company 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, who is paraplegic and previously served as the United Nations special envoy on disability issues, has denied receiving any money from the Chinese company and announced plans to appeal the verdict.
His wife and other relatives were also convicted and sentenced to nearly three years in prison for complicity.
Prosecutors had initially sought a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the former president.
