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Latin America
Ecuador Convicts Ex-President Lenín Moreno in Sinohydro Bribery Case
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August 29, 2026
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6 min read
Ecuador · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —Verdict The National Court of Justice found Lenín Moreno guilty of bribery on 28 August 2026.
- —Sentence Five years in prison, served at home, plus permanent disqualification from public office.
- —Bribes Prosecutors put the payments at US$76.1 million, about 4% of the contract.
- —Co-defendants Nineteen others were convicted, including Moreno’s wife, daughter, two brothers and China’s former ambassador.
- —Reparation The tribunal ordered payments above US$163 million in the Sinohydro bribery case.
A three-judge tribunal in Quito ordered five years, a permanent ban from office and reparation above US$163 million.
Ecuador’s National Court of Justice convicted former president Lenín Moreno of bribery on 28 August 2026. The Sinohydro bribery case ended with a five-year sentence and a permanent ban from public office.
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A unanimous verdict at the National Court
A three-judge tribunal of Ecuador’s Corte Nacional de Justicia read its verdict in Quito on 28 August 2026. The court is Ecuador’s National Court of Justice, which tries senior officials at first instance.
Judges Manuel Cabrera, Daniella Camacho and Julio Inga signed the ruling. Cabrera presided, and the decision on Lenín Moreno was unanimous.
The charge was cohecho, the Ecuadorian offence of bribery that covers both the payer and the receiver. Moreno was convicted as a direct author rather than as an accomplice.
The reading followed 31 days of evidence and a deliberation that began on 10 July 2026. Prosecutors had asked for six years and six months.
What the sentence actually says
The tribunal sentenced Moreno to five years in prison and barred him permanently from public office. He is 73 and cannot walk, so the term is to be served at home.
Ecuadorian law allows house arrest for convicted people with a qualifying physical disability. Moreno has used a wheelchair since a 1998 robbery in Quito left him with a spinal injury.
The court also ordered integral reparation, the Ecuadorian remedy combining repayment, apologies and symbolic measures. Payments across all those convicted total more than US$163 million.
Those convicted were given 90 days to pay and 30 days to issue public apologies. Reports differ on the exact multiplier applied to each group of defendants.
The dam at the centre of the file
Coca Codo Sinclair is Ecuador’s largest power plant, rated at 1,500 megawatts on the Coca river. Sinohydro, a Chinese state construction group, built it and delivered the plant in 2016.
The Fiscalía General del Estado, Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office, values the construction contract at US$1.979 billion. The Export-Import Bank of China, a state lender, financed it with about US$1.68 billion.
The plant has drawn years of criticism over cracks in its equipment and sediment in the intake. Those engineering disputes were not the question the tribunal ruled on.
Ecuador uses the United States dollar as its currency, so none of these figures need conversion. Every amount in the case file is already stated in dollars.
How prosecutors tied Moreno to the payments
Moreno was vice-president from 2007 to 2013, and then president from 2017 to 2021. Prosecutors placed the conduct in the Sinohydro bribery case in his vice-presidential years.
The Attorney General’s Office said Sinohydro paid roughly US$76.1 million between 2009 and 2018. It put that sum at about 4% of the contract value.
Prosecutors said Moreno helped arrange the Chinese credit and interceded for the company inside the government. They cited a 2010 recording in which he called himself a mediator before the executive.
Money then moved through consultancy invoices and companies abroad, according to the prosecution. The office said more than US$1 million reached people close to Moreno.
Twenty convictions, including Chinese officials
The tribunal convicted 20 people and acquitted nobody who reached the verdict. Terms ranged from one year and six months up to five years.
Five defendants drew five-year terms as direct authors, among them Moreno and the businessman Conto Patiño. Cai Runguo, China’s former ambassador in Quito, received the same sentence.
Two former Sinohydro representatives, Song Dongsheng and Yang Huijin, were also given five years. Two former managers of the plant were sentenced to three years each.
Twelve people were convicted as accomplices and sentenced to two years and six months. They include Moreno’s wife Rocío González, his daughter Irina and his brothers Edwin and Guillermo.
One further accomplice received a term of one year and six months. A twenty-first defendant, Priscila Burneo, saw the charge against her withdrawn in July 2026.
Where the reported figures diverge
Several outlets rounded the bribe total to US$76 million and the contract to about US$2 billion. The official figures are US$76.1 million and US$1.979 billion.
One Ecuadorian outlet put the project cost at US$2.763 billion, a wider figure including financing. That is not the contract value used in the Sinohydro bribery case.
Headlines before the ruling carried the six years and six months that prosecutors had requested. The sentence the tribunal handed down is five years.
Agency copy also differed on where Moreno lives, with some reports still placing him in Paraguay. He was in the courtroom in Quito when the ruling was read.
Moreno came back to face the court
Moreno left office in 2021 and settled in Asunción, Paraguay, under periodic reporting orders. He was later named the Organization of American States commissioner for disability affairs.
He had earlier served as the United Nations Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility. That appointment followed his years as vice-president under Rafael Correa.
He flew back to Quito on 6 May 2026, days before the trial hearing opened. He followed some early sessions by video link, then attended the verdict in person.
Moreno said he chose to appear in person because he wanted to face the court. He told reporters he had not received a single cent from Sinohydro.
He blamed Correa, who signed the arrangement with China, and former vice-president Jorge Glas, who oversaw construction. He said he would stay in Ecuador despite the first-instance ruling.
What happens next
The ruling is a first-instance decision and it is not final. Moreno has said he will appeal, and a written judgment follows the oral verdict.
An appeal would go to a chamber of the same National Court, before different judges. Until it is resolved, both the sentence and the reparation order can still change.
No extradition request or Interpol notice arises for Moreno, because he is in Ecuador. That separates his position from other convicted Ecuadorian politicians who are abroad.
Correa was sentenced to eight years in 2020 in a separate bribery case and lives in Belgium. Glas is serving prison terms in Ecuador in other corruption cases.
Moreno is the third former Ecuadorian president convicted of a corruption offence. For investors, the Sinohydro bribery case shows how far back Ecuador’s courts are now reaching.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Lenín Moreno convicted of?
He was convicted of cohecho, the Ecuadorian offence of bribery, as a direct author. The Sinohydro bribery case carried five years in prison and a permanent ban from office.
How much money is involved?
The Attorney General’s Office puts Sinohydro’s payments at US$76.1 million between 2009 and 2018. Reparation ordered across all those convicted exceeds US$163 million.
Is the sentence final?
No, the ruling is first instance and Moreno has said he will appeal. A higher chamber of the National Court would review the Sinohydro bribery case.
Sources
- www.fiscalia.gob.ec
- www.fiscalia.gob.ec
- www.eluniverso.com
- www.primicias.ec
- www.primicias.ec
- www.expreso.ec
- www.larepublica.ec
- www.extra.ec
- www.aljazeera.com
- es.euronews.com
- www.eldiario.ec
- www.fmritmoibarra.com
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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Originally published on www.riotimesonline.com — View original