Ecuador court sentences former president Moreno to five years for corruption

Former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of bribery linked to the country's largest hydroelectric plant.

The 73-year-old has also been permanently banned from holding public office, Ecuador's public prosecutor's office said on Friday.

The case centres on the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, which began operating in 2016. Prosecutors alleged Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro paid about $76.1 million in bribes between 2009 and 2018 through fraudulent consulting contracts.

“Lenin Moreno’s conduct is consistent with the charges brought by the prosecution: the crime of bribery attributed to a public official,” Judge Manuel Cabrera said while delivering the ruling.

Moreno's wife, daughter, two brothers and their wives were also convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Cai Runguo, China's former ambassador to Ecuador, received a five-year sentence.

Prosecutors said more than $1 million reached Moreno and close relatives while he served as vice-president between 2007 and 2013.

Moreno has denied wrongdoing and said he had no role in the project's contracts.

“You’re looking in the wrong place. Look at those who signed the contracts, at those who had the habit of demanding kickbacks,” Moreno told the court.

Moreno served as Ecuador's president from 2017 to 2021.