Peru’s president arrives to testify earlier than prosecutors amid increasing ‘Rolexgate’ probe

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Dina Boluarte testified to prosecutors behind closed doorways Friday as authorities examine whether or not she illegally obtained lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in money, luxurious watches and jewellery.

Prosecutors have been investigating the extremely unpopular chief on prices of illicit enrichment and failures to declare belongings. Boluarte rolled as much as the constructing Friday morning in a automotive with tinted home windows surrounded by armed police, passing throngs of journalists and plenty of protesters.

PERU’S PRESIDENT WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS OVER OWNERSHIP OF LUXURY WATCHES, HER LAWYERS SAY

One lady chanted “Dina, assassin, the folks repudiate you, Dina, thief, the folks repudiate you.” Shortly after, the Prosecutor’s Workplace confirmed that that they had began taking the president’s testimony.

The unfolding scandal is the most recent turmoil that has wracked Peru’s political system lately. As of Friday morning, Boluarte had given no public indications about what she deliberate to say in her testimony.

The probe started in mid-March after a digital information program La Encerrona spotlighted Boluarte sporting a Rolex watch that’s price as much as $14,000 in Peru. Different TV reveals later flagged that the chief was seen sporting at the very least two different Rolexes in addition to a gold and diamond Cartier bracelet estimated to value greater than $54,000. The controversy was shortly dubbed “Rolexgate” on social media.

Peruvian regulation requires officers to declare jewellery whose worth exceeds $2,791, and it’s nonetheless not clear the place the watches and lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in financial institution transfers got here from.

Boluarte has offered scarce particulars in regards to the suspicious transactions and jewellery, which she didn’t declare to authorities, however stated that the Rolex first proven in images was the “fruit of my labor” working since she was 18.

The controversy will solely add headwinds for Boluarte, who’s unpopular with 86% of Peruvians, based on a March survey by the Institute of Peruvian Research.

“She has no good governance, she’s rejected by the bulk, her issues with the folks (of Peru) are very severe,” stated Alonso Cárdenas, political science professor at Peru’s Antonio Ruiz de Montoya College.

Late Friday, armed cops broke down the entrance door of Boluarte’s home with a battering ram and entered the property to seek for the watches. They didn’t discover them, and moved on to the presidential palace, the place in addition they weren’t situated.

High prosecutor Juan Villena stated Tuesday that his workplace was increasing the scope of the investigation, provided that investigators imagine Boluarte has much more undeclared belongings than they initially suspected.

The workplace estimated that her jewellery, together with the Cartier bracelet and watches, could also be price as a lot as $500,000, and stated she obtained greater than $400,000 in “deposits of unknown origin” into her checking account.

Boluarte, a 61-year-old lawyer, was a modest district official earlier than getting into then-President Pedro Castillo’s authorities as vp and social inclusion minister with a complete month-to-month wage of $8,136 in July 2021. She grew to become president in December 2022 — after Parliament dismissed Castillo — with a wage of $4,200 monthly. Shortly after, she started sporting the watches in public.

The raid on Friday marked the primary time in Peru’s historical past that police forcibly entered the house of a sitting president. It got here after Boluarte requested extra time to reply a court docket subpoena to testify in regards to the case, which was denied as lead prosecutor Villena emphasised Boluarte’s obligation to cooperate with the investigation.

The Andean nation isn’t any stranger to political tumult. Peru has had six presidents in six years, following waves of political controversies. That does not imply Boluarte is quickly to be ejected from the presidency; analysts informed The Related Press she is unlikely to face any actual penalties – at the very least within the quick time period. Sitting presidents in Peru can’t be charged with crimes whereas in workplace, and Congress shall be reluctant to maneuver ahead with impeachment proceedings.

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Boluarte’s alliance with a coalition of congressional leaders means she’s going to possible keep in workplace till 2026, stated Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin American research for the Council of Overseas Relations. Freeman says Boluarte is a “puppet” who has enabled the lawmakers to cross reforms which might be slowly “dismantling democracy” in order that they will keep in energy.

Peru’s Congress on Thursday shot down two requests by plenty of lawmakers to take away Boluarte from workplace.