By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s President Dina Boluarte met with state prosecutors for nearly five hours on Friday, answering questions about alleged illicit enrichment involving the origin of expensive jewelry, including various Rolex watches and a Cartier bracelet.
The probe has unleashed a scandal in Peru and prompted the resignation of several cabinet ministers earlier this week, after police and prosecutors raided Boluarte’s home and government palace office over the weekend.
The president has denied wrongdoing and denied corruption, but she has not specified when she acquired the watches and jewelry or if someone gave them to her as a gift. Prosecutors said they suspected the cost of the jewelry would have exceeded her financial capacity, without specifying details.
Boluarte left the prosecutors’ office in her official vehicle without speaking with the numerous journalists waiting for her outside, and headed towards the government palace.
Representatives of the prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries about the meeting.
The president escaped the start of impeachment proceedings on Thursday after Congress rejected two motions put forward by leftist lawmakers, largely thanks to support from conservative and right-wing politicians who say they want to avoid a crisis.
Boluarte, a former vice president who was rapidly sworn in as head of state by Congress in 2022, has faced fierce protests over the years from supporters of her democratically elected predecessor, Pedro Castillo, who was impeached in December 2022 for trying to shutter Congress and later jailed.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
