Conviction and Sentence
Abdala Bucaram, who served as Ecuador's president, was found guilty on Wednesday of corruption and sentenced to nine years and four months in prison for acting as a collaborator in organized crime. His son, Jacob Bucaram, received a sentence as well for the illegal sale of at least 21,000 COVID-19 tests and other medical supplies during the 2020 pandemic. The trial, which spanned six years, proceeded after the attorney general's office appealed a 2021 decision that had dismissed the charges against both men.[S1]
At 74, Bucaram received the court's ruling from a distance while at a medical facility in Guayaquil under guard for treatment. Ecuadorean legislation could permit him to serve his term at home because of his age. Authorities first detained him in 2020 when they searched his Guayaquil residence, and health issues meant he was initially confined to house arrest rather than jail. The ex-president has had cardiac surgery and spent time in intensive care.[S1]
Details of the Corruption Scheme
The inquiry determined that COVID-19 tests were moved unlawfully to Bucaram's home, which Quito traffic officers were guarding. Prosecutors said the tests and medical supplies were distributed across multiple provinces without invoices and without remitting taxes to the government. On X, Bucaram wrote that he had asked to leave the clinic even though he faced a danger of sudden death, adding that he would mount a defense and that the nation would discover appalling details about the case.[S1]
In 1997, Bucaram was ousted from the presidency after being deemed mentally incapable of governing. He subsequently spent close to twenty years in exile in Panama, only coming back to Ecuador in 2017. This newest guilty verdict becomes part of a stormy political history.[S1]
