The Public Ministry (MP) of Ecuador announced that it was carrying out raids on an office of the Chinese state company Sinohydro as part of an investigation for an alleged crime of bribery of former President Lenín Moreno.
The parliamentarian confirmed on the social network Twitter the operation, carried out this Wednesday, in the offices of Sinohydro, which participated in the development of the Coca Codo-Sinclaire dam, the largest hydroelectric plant in the country.
during searches “Electronic equipment was seized and documentation related to the hydroelectric project, carried out by the aforementioned company in Ecuador,” the MP wrote.
The deputy reiterated that this operation is one of the steps he has taken in relation to the corruption case known as “Ina’s Papers.”
The investigation, initiated at the request of Lenin Moreno himself, who led the country between 2017 and 2021, investigates the accounts of the former president when he was special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Disability, between 2013 and 2016.
Moreno admitted having accounts at Banco Post Financeopened when he was a special envoy, and another personal account in the UBS bank, in Switzerland, but denied being the owner of the company “Ina Investment”, registered through Banco Balboa, in Panama.
Political opponents accused Moreno of diverting alleged bribes through this company, in a scandal that would also involve people close to the former Ecuadorian president.
In 2019, the journalistic portal La Fuente published an investigation that alleged that one of Moreno’s brothers had accounts in tax havens and a luxurious property in Spain.
Moreno denied the accusation and suggested that the case is politically motivated, linked to his main detractor, former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who lives in Belgium and who was convicted by the Ecuadorian justice system in another corruption case.
The Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro has operations in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, specifically in the construction of water treatment and supply infrastructure and electricity distribution, including the construction of the new Mbanza Congo airport, in the Angolan province of Zaire.
Source: Observadora
