Peru’s attorney general had on Monday accused the President, Dina Boluarte of receiving bribes in the form of Rolex watches, in the latest claims of a corruption scandal that has the country reeling.
The Attorney General, Juan Carlos Villena remarked that the President’s act of receiving luxury items from a governor was just as good as her accepting bribes.
The Attorney General’s office had written on X that Villena had “presented a constitutional complaint against Dina Boluarte as the suspected author of passive corruption,”
This controversy had began in March with the discovery of a pile of undeclared luxury Rolex watches and jewellery in the president’s possession.
President Boluarte had however, informed prosecutors last month that the Rolex watches had been loaned by a friend—the friend in question being the regional governor of Ayacucho, Wilfredo Oscorima.
As it stands, the President is being probed on suspicion of “passive corruption” for accepting improper benefits from public officials.
Note that the Attorney General’s accusation, which he had presented to Congress, does not amount to an indictment because the law in Peru gives the president immunity while in power.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen has castigated Boluarte and tagged his criticism of the President as simply “persecution”.
Peru is notable for its chronic political instability and has had six presidents in the course of just eight years.
Boluarte had been inaugurated into office in December 2022, replacing left-wing president Pedro Castillo, who had been impeached and imprisoned for failing to to dissolve Congress. She had been his vice president.
This latest development won’t be the first probe case for the President as prosecutors had in 2023, opened an investigation over accusations of “genocide, homicide and serious injuries,” for the deaths of over 50 protesters during a crackdown on demonstrations demanding she resign and call fresh elections.
