Overview
- A National Court judge required Moreno to check in twice a month at Ecuador’s embassy in Asunción instead of ordering pretrial detention.
- The case names about 24 defendants connected to the project, and the court has not set a trial start date.
- Investigators allege roughly $76 million in bribes around the hydroelectric contract, with hundreds of thousands in illicit payments reaching Moreno and relatives.
- Moreno, who lives in Paraguay and holds an OAS role, denies receiving any money and portrays the prosecution as political revenge.
- Authorities say the money trail was mapped with legal assistance from Panama, Belize, Switzerland, the United States, China and Spain, and experts caution that extradition would be difficult if he is convicted in absentia.