Former Ecuadorian president Abdala Bucaram was sentenced to nine years and four months for his involvement in a scheme that sold medical supplies fraudulently during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Bucaram, 74, may serve the term under house arrest because of his age and says he will appeal, denying wrongdoing. Prosecutors say the group profited from negotiating about 21,000 rapid COVID‑19 tests and other supplies between March and August 2020; one foreign defendant, identified as Shy D, was later killed in prison after testifying.
Ex‑Ecuador President Abdala Bucaram Sentenced to 9 Years over Pandemic Medical Supplies Fraud
Ecuador's former President Abdala Bucaram (C) shakes hands with supporters, in Guayaquil, Ecuador October 8, 2019. REUTERS/Santiago Arcos
QUITO, Sept 10 (Reuters) — A court in Ecuador on Wednesday sentenced former president Abdala Bucaram to nine years and four months in prison for his role in a criminal organization that fraudulently sold medical supplies during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
Bucaram, 74, who served as president from August 1996 to February 1997, may serve the sentence under house arrest because of his age, in accordance with Ecuadorian law. Speaking to reporters from his home on Thursday, he said he will appeal the conviction and questioned the judge's impartiality, citing what he described as previous social media attacks against his family.
"There is no crime; they concocted an absurd trial based on lies," Bucaram said.
One of Bucaram's sons, Jacobo Bucaram, was also convicted and received the same nine‑year, four‑month sentence. The Attorney General's Office said the group negotiated the purchase of roughly 21,000 rapid COVID‑19 tests and other medical supplies between March and August 2020 — a period when Ecuador faced one of the region's worst pandemic outbreaks.
Case Details
The court ruling named four primary defendants. In addition to the Bucarams, a former traffic officer was sentenced to 13 years and four months, while an Israeli national received a reduced term of two years and eight months for cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors said the defendants formed an organized criminal structure that repeatedly committed crimes to obtain financial benefits from the transactions.
Investigators allege that traffic police officers provided security for two foreign nationals transporting supplies to Bucaram's residence in Guayaquil, and that some involved pretended to be diplomatic staff or agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
One foreign national identified by prosecutors as Shy D testified in the case and was murdered in a Guayaquil prison in August 2020, days after giving testimony.
Bucaram followed the hearing by video conference from a hospital in the coastal city of Guayaquil, where he has been treated for heart problems. He reiterated his intention to appeal the verdict.
Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Additional reporting by Yury García in Guayaquil; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Rod Nickel
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