Former President Lenín Moreno sentenced to five years house arrest in Sinohydro corruption case

Former President Lenín Moreno was sentenced Friday to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes from the Chinese company Sinohydro in exchange for helping it secure a contract to build the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant. Moreno, who was present for the reading of the verdict, is 73 years old and has a physical disability that prevents him from walking. He will serve the sentence under house arrest.

Moreno’s attorneys say they plan to appeal the verdict.

Former President Lenin Moreno was convicted Friday of accepting bribes from Chinese contractor Sinohydro in construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.

Moreno was convicted as a direct participant in the bribery scheme during his tenure as vice president under Rafael Correa. His wife and daughter, two brothers and a brother-in-law were convicted as accomplices. The wife and daughter each received 30-month sentences. All were ordered to repay triple what they received illicitly within a period of 90 days.

Moreno is the third former Ecuadorian president to be sentenced for corruption, though he was tried for crimes before reaching the presidency.

Correa was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison in a bribery case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht but remains in Belgium, where he has lived for years. Former President Jamil Mahuad was also sentenced in 2014 to eight years for misuse of public funds. Another former president, Abdalá Bucaram, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of organized crime.

Prosecutors said a corruption network operated from 2008 to 2018 within the government, collecting bribes equal to 4% of project costs from Sinohydro during construction of Coca Codo Sinclair. They said the money was distributed through domestic and international transactions to public officials and other beneficiaries, including Moreno.

Coca Codo Sinclair was a $2 billion project that was handed it over to the Ecuadorian government in 2016. The plant has been plagued by structural and design defects since it began operation and operates at less than 70% capacity. Despite the operational problems, President Daniel Noboa recently signed an agreement with China Power, parent company of Sinohydro, to manage the facility.

Moreno, a tourism entrepreneur, rose to national prominence in 2007 when he became vice president under Correa, who governed Ecuador for a decade. Moreno served until 2013, when Jorge Glas succeeded him.

In 2017, Moreno won the presidency as a candidate of the Correísta movement founded around Correa, with Glas as his running mate. Glas later left office and is now serving a prison sentence for corruption.