LIMA (AFP) – Peru’s attorney general on Monday accused President Dina Boluarte of accepting bribes in the form of Rolex watches, in the latest twist of a corruption scandal shaking her unpopular government.
Attorney General Juan Carlos Villena said that her receiving the luxury items from a governor amounted to accepting bribes.
Villena “presented a constitutional complaint against Dina Boluarte as the suspected author of passive corruption,” his office said on X. The scandal erupted in March with the discovery of a trove of undeclared luxury Rolex watches and jewellery in the president’s possession.
Boluarte told prosecutors last month the Rolex watches had been loaned by a friend, Ayacucho regional Governor Wilfredo Oscorima. She is being investigated on suspicion of “passive corruption” for receiving improper benefits from public officials. The attorney general’s accusation, presented to Congress, does not amount to an indictment because the president has immunity while in power. Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen criticised the accusation as “persecution” of Boluarte.
“This is nothing more than an example of the systematic persecution in fiscal matters that is carried out against the president in an improper, unconstitutional and illegal manner,” Adrianzen told television Canal N.
