LIMA, Peru: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte Friday appeared before prosecutors in connection with a probe into her Rolex watches, expensive jewelry and unexplained bank deposits.
The scandal has shaken the country’s fragile government. Boluarte spent five-and-a-half hours at the Attorney General office. Juan Carlos Villena had been charged with taking her statement.
Prosecutors had previously announced that she would be asked to present the undeclared luxury watches as part of the illicit enrichment investigation and explain their source.
The interrogation came after police searched Boluarte’s home and the presidential palace on March 30, according to photos released by local media. The collection is said to include at least three expensive Rolex watches.
As Boluarte made her statement, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside the prosecutor’s office, including a group of mostly women who voiced their support for the president.
Another group shouted Dina, prison is waiting for you!
The government hopes Boluarte’s statement will put an end to the scandal, which led to two impeachment motions against him, both of which were rejected by the right-wing majority in parliament on Thursday.
After these explanations, the prosecutor’s office may have no choice but to close the investigation, Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said Thursday said Thursday.
“56,000 dollar bracelet”
The attorney general’s office also sought an explanation for Boluarte’s possession of a $56,000 Cartier bracelet and other jewelry worth more than $500,000. About $250,000 in bank deposits from her time as a cabinet minister in 2021 and 2022 are also being investigated.
Boluarte is the sixth president of Peru in the last quarter of a century to be accused of corruption.
She is also the sixth president of this country in the last eight years.
Boluarte said the watches are the result of hard work.
