Ecuador.— A court sentenced former President Abdalá Bucaram and his son Jacobo Bucaram to nine years and four months in prison each after finding them responsible as collaborators in organized crime in the so-called COVID-19 Tests case.
The first-instance ruling was announced on Wednesday, September 9. The case involves the irregular sale of approximately 21,000 rapid tests for detecting COVID-19 and other medical supplies during the 2020 health emergency.
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According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Bucaram and his son were considered collaborators in the structure under investigation. The case examined operations carried out between March and August 2020, when Ecuador was going through a critical stage of the pandemic.
The 74-year-old former president attended the hearing remotely from a clinic in Guayaquil, where he was receiving treatment for heart problems. His health condition had led to postponements of the hearing at which the decision was to be announced.
The Prosecutor’s Office investigation alleged that the structure obtained financial benefits through the irregular sale of rapid tests and other medical products. It also examined the use of vehicles and public servants from Quito’s Metropolitan Transit Agency to transport the supplies.
In the same case, former traffic agent Leandro Berrones received a sentence of 13 years and four months as the direct perpetrator. Israeli citizen Sheinman Oren was also found to be a perpetrator, but received a reduced sentence of two years and eight months because of his effective cooperation with the authorities.
The COVID-19 Tests case began in 2020. Abdalá Bucaram and his son were initially acquitted in 2021, but an appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office allowed the proceedings to continue and led to both men being sent to trial.
Before the sentence was announced, Abdalá Bucaram posted a message anticipating that he would be convicted and saying he would continue his defense. The former president had requested medical discharge so he could attend the hearing.
Bucaram served as Ecuador’s president from 1996 to 1997. Congress removed him from office in February 1997, six months after he took office, and he later spent years in Panama.
The sentence against Abdalá Bucaram and the other defendants is a first-instance decision in the judicial proceedings.
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