Ecuador’s ex-president and Chinese ambassador seek to avoid jail over belt and road dam

AI Summary

Former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno and a former Chinese ambassador have appealed against five-year jail sentences related to a US$76 million bribery scandal in Ecuador's largest hydroelectric project. The case involves contracts secured by a Chinese state contractor.

Former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno and a former Chinese ambassador to Quito asked the country’s highest court on Thursday to spare them the five-year sentences handed down last week over a US$76 million bribery scheme. Moreno was convicted of bribery by a three-judge panel of the National Court of Justice over contracts for Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric project secured by a Chinese state contractor. The judges found unanimously that he had used his position as vice-president, held from...