Peru President Dina Boluarte's Home Raided by Police Over Rolex Scandal
Peru's already-unstable leadership once again got rocked as police raided the home of current President Dina Boluarte over corruption allegations stemming from the Rolex scandal, where she is accused of owning at least 14 luxury watches and placing into question whether her luxurious lifestyle was a result of corruption.
Her home was raided late Friday and was the preliminary move into a new corruption probe into the sitting president. It was prompted by an investigative report from the Peruvian news outlet La Encerrona, which looked into Boluarte's luxurious lifestyle.
Police initially tried to reason with the officials inside the home, but they would not open the door. This led the police to break the door down and initiate the search for those luxury watches, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, President Dina Boluarte denied the corruption allegations and stated that she owned those watches as a result of her hard work.
"I came to the presidential palace with my hands clean and I will leave with my hands clean as I have promised the Peruvian people," she said in a statement.
After the raid, Boluarte's office stated that the searches were completed "without incident," with her lawyer, Mateo Castaneda, slamming the raid as excessive and designed to "make a show" through police presence. He added that police only took photos of approximately 10 watches that the Peruvian president owned. However, he could not confirm the brands of these watches.
The president's lawyer also confirmed that Boluarte is scheduled to testify at the prosecutor's office sometime in April. Meanwhile, her political allies began rallying around her and slammed the raid in her home as excessive.
Peru President Dina Boluarte Asked To Present Rolex Watches Herself During an Inquiry
As for that April inquiry, prosecutors want Boluarte to give her sworn statement on April 5. During that inquiry, they also want her to present those luxury watches that have caused the scandal.
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On Sunday, however, Boluarte requested to have her "investigative statement taken immediately, in order to clarify the facts under investigation as soon as possible," adding that her request was due to "the political turbulence that has been occurring."
VOA News pointed out that despite her request for an earlier inquiry, she did not imply that she would present those controversial Rolex watches during the hearing, which would also look into whether those watches were in her income statements. Prosecutors are also asking her for their receipts.
Peru Police Raiding Homes of Presidents Not Uncommon, But Dina Boluarte Raid a First
While raids on the homes of presidents are rare in other countries, people in Peru are already used to it by now as searches in the homes of former presidents have already happened plenty of times before. However, the Associated Press reported that this was the first time that police forcibly entered the home of a sitting president.
Boluarte is accused of not disclosing her collection of luxury watches since becoming vice president and social inclusion minister back in 2021. She also did not disclose it since becoming president in December 2022. Her watches raised eyebrows as she was only a modest district official before becoming President Pedro Castillo's VP before becoming president herself after Castillo was ousted, also because of alleged corruption.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Peru police raids President Dina Boluarte's residence - Associated Press
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