LİMA. Peruvian President Boluarte raided his home with sledgehammers after coming under investigation for possessing an undisclosed collection of luxury watches since taking power as vice president in July 2021 and then president in December 2022. This was not enough and in parallel, he continued the raid on the Presidential office by expanding it.
Boluarte, since the age of 18 „personal gains“ Claiming that he is the owner of at least one Rolex watch, which he obtained through illegal means, he urged the country’s media not to look into personal matters. Chief Prosecutor Juan Villena criticized Boluarte’s request to postpone his court appearance for two weeks. Boluarte is accused of violating an earlier promise to speak honestly with prosecutors, worsening a new political crisis stemming from his unexplained Rolex possession. In Peru, the Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating Boluarte for “genocide, aggravated murder and serious injury” in a case opened last year for the deaths of more than 50 citizens “during social protests between December 2022 and January 2023”.
The President of Peru is being investigated for alleged illicit enrichment due to undeclared luxury watches among his assets. Peruvian police raided Dina Boluarte’s home and presidential office on Saturday as part of an investigation into alleged illicit enrichment through Rolex watches that the president did not declare as part of his assets.
In the early hours of the morning, a group of uniformed police and prosecutors entered Boluarte’s home in eastern Lima after breaking the door with an iron bar, according to television footage. The government confirmed that police later arrived at the presidential palace and searched the president’s office, which was at the scene at the time of the raid.
“The President’s private house was raided (…) After the search (…) they came to the government palace for the same purpose,” Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén told reporters. Authorities carried out the search for luxury watches, the source of which the president did not disclose. Although the prosecution did not say whether they found the jewelry or other evidence, Dina Boluarte’s defense said police found watches in her room in the government building.
“They did not take them, they were verified and photographed,” lawyer Mateo Castañeda told RPP radio. “There were about 10, and within that number there were some nice watches, but I can’t tell you how many were Rolex watches,” he said.
An investigation was launched against Boluarte, who took office in December 2022, on March 18, on allegations of illegal enrichment and failure to record his statements in public documents.
According to media reports, the president plans to address the nation on Saturday.
new calls
The raids were authorized by the Supreme Court of Preliminary Investigation, presided over by Chief Justice Juan Carlos Checkley, at the request of the Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office.
He harshly criticized the raids against President Boluarte.
“We consider the action taken to be absolutely disproportionate, unjustified and unconstitutional, if not illegal,” Adrianzén said. The 61-year-old woman was summoned by the prosecutor’s office to testify on Friday after she requested the postponement of the hearing planned to be held last week.
“We are confident that during the investigation it will be revealed that he has no responsibility for the crimes under investigation,” Adrianzén said.
If the prosecutor’s office accuses him of illicit enrichment, Boluarte can only be held responsible in a possible trial after July 2026, when his term ends, according to the Constitution.
However, this scandal may lead to calls for the impeachment of Boluarte from the Congress on the grounds of “moral incompetence”. For this to happen, the right wing, which controls the unicameral parliament and is the president’s main supporters, would need to support the minority left wing in a theoretically difficult alliance.
What is the Rolex case involving Dina Boluarte?
The Rolex scandal broke out in mid-March, following a report on the news program „La Encerrona“. The media revealed that Dina Boluarte has worn many watches of the luxury brand in official activities since taking office as vice president in the government of former president Pedro Castillo and Minister of Development and Social Inclusion in 2021.
The period analyzed by the program extends until December 2022, when he assumes the presidency.
In his only reaction so far, Boluarte only talked about a Rolex “from the past years” and said that he acquired it through his work and his own “effort”. “I entered the government palace with clean hands and I will leave it with clean hands,” Boluarte said in his recent statement.
„Genocide, aggravated murder and serious injury“
As a result of the scandal, the Comptroller General’s Office announced that it would once again review Boluarte’s asset declarations for the past two years to investigate a possible asset imbalance. In Peru, the Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating Boluarte for “genocide, aggravated murder and serious injury” in a case opened last year for the deaths of more than 50 citizens “during social protests between December 2022 and January 2023”.
The Peruvian president, who has a popularity rating of only 10 percent in the polls, has no reserve power and no club of his own in Congress.
Boluarte was vice president until he took office on December 7, 2022, after Congress impeached leftist President Pedro Castillo for his attempt to dissolve parliament and rule by decree.(AFP)
…in activities inside and outside the Palace… pic.twitter.com/YEGAyiPB8x
— La Encerrona (@laencerronaperu) March 14, 2024
2024-03-31 10:42:08