In a landmark corruption ruling that underscores Ecuador’s ongoing crackdown on graft among former top officials, ex-president Lenín Moreno has been convicted of bribery linked to the $2.7 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam project, receiving a five-year prison sentence that will be served under house arrest.
The 73-year-old former leader, who held Ecuador’s presidency from 2017 to 2021, was found guilty alongside 19 other co-defendants by a court in the capital Quito. Due to his advanced age and documented disability, the court ruled he would serve his sentence at his private residence rather than a state prison. Immediately following the verdict, Moreno confirmed he intends to file an appeal to challenge the conviction, maintaining his complete innocence throughout the trial.
Prosecutors from Ecuador’s anti-corruption unit laid out allegations that China’s state-owned engineering firm Sinohydro funneled a total of $76.1 million in illicit bribes through a network of anonymous shell companies to intermediaries, officials, and connected figures to secure the contract for the dam construction. Among the 19 other individuals convicted alongside Moreno are his immediate family members—his wife, daughter, and brother—former senior project managers, acting Sinohydro representatives, and a former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador. While prosecutors confirmed Moreno personally received only a small portion of the illicit funds, they documented that his close family members received tens of thousands of dollars in illegal payments from the scheme.
As part of the sentencing, all convicted individuals are required to repay three times the value of the bribes they received as a form of judicial restitution to the Ecuadorian state. For Moreno, an additional permanent ban from holding public office was also handed down by the court.
Moreno has repeatedly denied any involvement in the bribery scheme, shifting blame to his predecessor Rafael Correa, under whom he served as vice president before ascending to the presidency. Correa was already sentenced to eight years in prison in a separate high-profile corruption case in 2020. Moreno argues that Correa oversaw the full negotiation and approval of the Coca Codo Sinclair project, and that when he took office in 2017, he launched an official investigation into irregularities surrounding the dam’s construction.
This conviction marks a major milestone in Ecuador’s anti-corruption campaign, making Moreno the third former Ecuadorian head of state to be sentenced on corruption charges in recent years. The project itself has been mired in controversy long before the bribery trial: the Ecuadorian government launched formal legal action against Sinohydro in 2021 after widespread structural cracks and multiple technical failures were discovered in the completed dam. Earlier this year, the government reached a $400 million settlement with Sinohydro to resolve the construction defect claims.
The BBC has reached out to both Sinohydro and the Chinese embassy in Ecuador to request a formal response to the conviction, but no comment has been released as of the ruling. The case continues to draw international attention as a high-profile test of judicial independence and anti-corruption accountability in Latin America.