Former President Lenin Moreno was found guilty of bribery by an Ecuadorian court on Friday in a case linked to the construction of Coca Codo Sinclair, the country’s largest hydroelectric plant. Moreno, 73, was sentenced to five years in prison and permanently barred from public office. Prosecutors alleged that Chinese state-owned company Sinohydro paid roughly $76.1 million in bribes through fraudulent consulting contracts between 2009 and 2018, with funds routed through overseas accounts and shell companies in tax havens. Moreno’s wife, daughter, two brothers and their wives were also convicted and sentenced to two and a half years, while Cai Runguo, China’s former ambassador to Quito, received a five-year sentence. Moreno, who served as Ecuador’s vice president from 2007 to 2013 and president from 2017 to 2021, denied involvement and returned from Paraguay to face trial.