Ecuadorean court sentences former President Bucaram in COVID corruption case

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO, Sept 10 (Reuters) – An Ecuadorean court sentenced former President Abdala Bucaram to nine years and four months of imprisonment on Wednesday for his involvement in a criminal organization that fraudulently sold medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Bucaram, 74, who was in power from August 1996 to February 1997, may serve his sentence under house arrest due to his age, in accordance with Ecuadorean law.

One of Bucaram’s sons, Jacobo Bucaram, was also convicted in the same case.

His lawyers did not comment on the ruling, but Bucaram could still appeal the sentence. 

A total of four individuals were accused by the Attorney General’s Office of having obtained financial benefits by negotiating the purchase of some 21,000 rapid COVID-19 tests and other medical supplies between March and August 2020, while Ecuador was experiencing one of the worst outbreaks of the pandemic in the region.

Bucaram’s son was sentenced to the same term as his father. The others were a former traffic officer who was sentenced to 13 years and four months, while an Israeli citizen received a reduced sentence of two years and eight months for his cooperation during the trial.

Bucaram listened to the hearing via video conference from a hospital in the coastal city of Guayaquil, where he has been hospitalized due to heart problems.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Editing by Saad Sayeed)