A former president of Ecuador has been handed a five-year prison sentence after a court in Quito found him guilty of receiving bribes connected to a major infrastructure contract awarded to a Chinese state-owned company.
Lenín Moreno, who led Ecuador from 2017 to 2021, was convicted alongside 19 other individuals in a corruption case centred on the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam. The 73-year-old will serve his sentence under house arrest, owing to his age and disability, and has signalled he intends to appeal the ruling.
The verdict makes Moreno the third former Ecuadorian head of state to be sentenced for corruption, underscoring the depth of graft allegations that have plagued the country’s political establishment across successive administrations.
The Sinohydro Contract and the Allegations
Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, funnelled roughly $76.1 million (£56.2 million) through a network of shell companies to individuals involved in securing the contract for the hydroelectric project. The dam, one of the largest of its kind in Latin America, became the focal point of a sprawling corruption investigation that has now culminated in criminal convictions.
Although prosecutors acknowledged that Moreno personally received only a modest sum from the scheme, they argued that members of his family — including his wife, daughter and brother — collected tens of thousands of dollars. Those convicted of bribery have been ordered to repay three times the amount they received, and Moreno has been barred from holding public office.
Also sentenced were former plant managers, Sinohydro representatives and a former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador, highlighting the international dimensions of the alleged corruption network.
Moreno’s Defence and the Correa Connection
Throughout the trial, Moreno maintained his innocence, insisting he had not taken money from the Chinese firm. He instead pointed the finger at his political mentor, former president Rafael Correa, under whom he served as vice-president.
Correa was himself sentenced to eight years in prison in 2020 in a separate bribery case. Moreno argued that Correa had approved the Coca Codo Sinclair project during his tenure and that he, upon assuming the presidency, had launched an investigation into construction irregularities at the site.
The case has deepened the political rift between Moreno and Correa, once close allies within Ecuador’s left-wing movement, who have traded blame over responsibility for the dam’s troubled legacy.
Dam Defects and Diplomatic Implications
The legal proceedings against Sinohydro did not end with the criminal convictions. In 2021, the Ecuadorian government launched separate civil action against the company after cracks and other technical failures appeared at the hydroelectric facility. Earlier this year, the government reached a $400 million settlement with Sinohydro’s owner, a figure that reflects both the scale of the infrastructure and the cost of the disputes surrounding it.
The BBC has approached Sinohydro and the Chinese embassy in Ecuador for comment on the latest verdict. The case is likely to reverberate beyond Ecuador’s borders, raising fresh questions about the conduct of Chinese state-owned enterprises operating in Latin America and the safeguards in place to prevent corruption in cross-border infrastructure deals.
Why it Matters
The conviction of yet another former Ecuadorian president signals that no figure, however elevated, stands beyond the reach of the country’s anti-corruption courts. With three ex-leaders now sentenced for graft, Ecuador is confronting a systemic crisis of political accountability that has eroded public trust in successive governments. The case also carries weight far beyond Quito: it places renewed scrutiny on the operations of Chinese state firms in Latin America, where billions of dollars in infrastructure contracts have flowed under opaque arrangements. As Ecuador grapples with the legal, financial and diplomatic fallout, the ruling serves as a stark reminder that the long-term costs of corruption are measured not only in misappropriated funds, but in weakened institutions and stalled development.
