Ecuador's Former President Lenin Moreno Convicted of Bribery in Hydroelectric Plant Case

An Ecuadorian court on Friday, August 29, 2026, convicted former President Lenin Moreno of bribery tied to the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, sentencing him to five years in prison and permanently barring him from holding public office. Judge Manuel Cabrera, who headed the tribunal (a specialized judicial panel), delivered the ruling. The public prosecutor's office announced it the same day.

Moreno, 73, was found guilty of cohecho — the legal term under Ecuadorian law for bribery by a public official — for expediting procedures and accrediting the Coca Codo Sinclair project, Ecuador's largest hydroelectric installation. According to El País, the tribunal issued its guilty declaration on August 28, with sentencing details confirmed by the prosecutor's office on August 29.

Ecuador's attorney general's office opened the investigation in March 2023. Prosecutors linked Moreno, his family members, and both local and Chinese business partners to an alleged corruption network surrounding the plant. They said Chinese state-owned firm Sinohydro paid roughly $76.1 million in bribes between 2009 and 2018 through fraudulent consulting contracts — essentially payments disguised as legitimate business fees. Investigators alleged the bribe money moved through overseas accounts and shell companies (entities set up to hold or hide funds without real operations) in tax havens before reaching Moreno's family and associates. Prosecutors said Moreno and his close relatives received more than $1 million while he served as vice president from 2007 to 2013.

Moreno served as president from 2017 to 2021. He returned to Ecuador from Paraguay to face trial.

The conviction reaches well beyond Moreno himself. His wife and daughter, along with his two brothers and their wives, were also convicted and each sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Cai Runguo, China's former ambassador to Quito, received a five-year sentence in the same case.

The Coca Codo Sinclair plant began operating in 2016 and has experienced technical problems since. Sinohydro built it under a financing-and-construction arrangement typical of China's infrastructure lending in Latin America during that period — what economists often call a “package deal,” where the same country provides the loan, the builder, and the oversight.

Moreno has consistently denied the bribery allegations and insisted he had no role in signing or overseeing the Coca Codo Sinclair project's contracts. Al Jazeera

The broader context here matters for several reasons. The conviction of a former head of state, his immediate family, and a foreign ambassador in a single corruption proceeding is a rare event in Latin American jurisprudence. It signals that Ecuador's judicial apparatus — working through the attorney general's office and a dedicated tribunal — has secured a complete prosecutive chain from investigation through sentencing in a case involving transnational bribery, offshore financial structures, and a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

The inclusion of Cai Runguo in the sentence introduces a diplomatic dimension. Whether Chinese authorities will cooperate with enforcement or extradition requests, or whether the sentence is served in absentia — meaning without the convicted person being physically present — is an open question. The case also draws renewed scrutiny to the Coca Codo Sinclair project itself, which has been plagued by technical issues since coming online. The intersection of corruption and infrastructure integrity raises the possibility of further legal or administrative proceedings tied to the plant's structural and operational liabilities.

For Ecuador's political landscape, the permanent disqualification of Moreno from public office closes a chapter that began with his unexpected rise from the vice presidency under Rafael Correa to the presidency, followed by a dramatic rupture with Correa's movement. The corruption conviction, rooted in conduct from his vice-presidential years, reframes the legacy of a leader who campaigned on dialogue and anti-corruption rhetoric.

Whether Moreno's defense team will appeal the ruling has not been publicly indicated in the available reporting. Under Ecuadorian criminal procedure, appeals of first-instance convictions — that is, rulings from a trial court before any higher review — are typically filed before a higher court within a defined window following sentencing.