Ecuador’s Lenín Moreno Sentenced to Five Years in Sinohydro Case

Former Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, August 28, after Ecuador’s National Court of Justice found him guilty of bribery linked to the Sinohydro contract for the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project.

The Quito ruling found Moreno responsible as a direct participant in the scheme. The judgment is a first-instance decision, not a final resolution, and the next stages will include any appeals and the implementation of the sentence and related penalties.

What the court decided

The three-judge panel, led by Manuel Cabrera and including Daniella Camacho and Julio Inga, ruled unanimously that the bribery offense had been proven and assigned individual responsibility to Moreno and other defendants. El Universo described the August 28 proceeding as involving 20 people, while Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office says 21 people were called to trial in the case.

Moreno received a five-year prison sentence and a permanent ban on holding public office, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and Primicias. Primicias reported that the court ordered convicted defendants to return three times the individual benefit attributed to them. The precise amounts for each person should be taken from the written judgment rather than treated as a single collective award.

The Associated Press reported that Moreno is expected to serve the sentence under house arrest because a physical disability prevents him from walking. That arrangement should be understood alongside any subsequent court or enforcement order.

What prosecutors alleged

Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office says the alleged corruption network operated from 2008 to 2018 around the construction and financing of Coca Codo Sinclair. Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid roughly $76 million in improper payments, or about 4% of the project’s contracted value, through third parties, transfers, checks and purported consulting or representation services.

The official case chronology describes the alleged payments as money moved through companies and intermediaries. The figure refers to the alleged network as a whole; it does not mean Moreno personally received the full amount.

Reporting from Primicias said the court examined companies associated with businessman Conto Patiño, whom prosecutors described as an intermediary between Sinohydro and Ecuador. The court also said Moreno used his position as vice president to help advance financing for the project.

Other defendants

Moreno’s wife, Rocío González, his daughter Irina Moreno, and his brothers Guillermo and Edwin Moreno were convicted as accomplices and received separate sentences, according to AP and Primicias. Conto Patiño and Cai Runguo, China’s former ambassador to Ecuador, were among the other defendants reported to have received five-year sentences. Several additional defendants, including members of the Patiño family and business associates, received separate sentences.

The court’s financial order was individualized: convicted defendants were told to repay three times the benefit attributed to each person, according to the reporting from Primicias and AP.

Moreno’s response and what comes next

Moreno has denied receiving illicit money and has said he had no responsibility for signing or overseeing the project contracts. During the proceedings, he argued that investigators should focus on officials who signed the contracts and those who allegedly demanded kickbacks.

The immediate questions are whether the defense files an appeal, how the written judgment defines the financial and public-office penalties, and how Ecuador’s authorities implement the prison or house-arrest arrangement. Until those steps are settled, Moreno’s conviction remains a significant first-instance judgment rather than a final resolution.

Why Coca Codo Sinclair matters

Coca Codo Sinclair is one of Ecuador’s largest infrastructure projects. Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office says the project was designated a national priority in 2008, with an estimated total value of about $1.98 billion. Sinohydro began construction in 2010, and the plant was handed over to Ecuador in 2016, according to AP. The facility has since faced criticism over technical and structural problems, adding public-contracting and infrastructure concerns to the corruption case.

Sources

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