The public prosecutor’s office Peru opened an investigation against the president this Monday Dina Boluarte for alleged illicit enrichment through the use of undeclared Rolex watches, the authority reported.
The Attorney General’s Office ordered “an investigation against Dina Boluarte, President of the Republic, for alleged commission of the crime of illicit enrichment and failure to document a declaration for the use of Rolex brand watches,” according to a statement from the Public Ministry.
Interim prosecutor Juan Carlos Villena will lead the investigation, which was launched following revelations last week by journalists’ program “La Encerrona.”
This medium pointed out in a report that since her appointment as Vice President of the Government of former President Pedro Castillo and Minister of Development and Social Inclusion in 2021, Boluarte has used several Rolex-branded watches in various official activities.
The period analyzed by the program extends to December 2022, the month in which he assumed the presidency.
Following the report, Boluarte pointed out last week that it was a watch “from yesterday” and that it was the product of his “efforts” since he had been working since he was 18.
“The article in particular is from yesterday. I use it very occasionally and what I want to say is that I entered the Government Palace with clean hands and I will leave with clean hands, as I promised the Peruvian people,” explained Boluarte, 61 years old, last Friday.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is already investigating Boluarte for the alleged crimes of “genocide, qualified homicide and grievous bodily harm”, in a case opened last year for the deaths of more than 50 citizens “during social mobilizations between December 2022 and January 2023”.
Boluarte was first interviewed as part of this investigation in March 2023.
If she is charged in any of those cases, the president cannot be tried under the constitution until 2026, when her term ends.
SPRING: AFP.