(Lima) The home of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was raided on Friday evening as part of an investigation into illicit enrichment, with the leader suspected of not having declared a collection of luxury watches as part of her assets.
According to a police document, to which AFP had access, around forty agents and magistrates were mobilized “with the aim of searching the house and seizing the Rolex watches”.
Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén (center right) immediately denounced this search, calling it an “outrage to dignity”.
“What happened is an intolerable attack on the dignity of the Presidency of the Republic and the nation it represents,” Mr. Adrianzén declared on RPP radio and television.
“The ministers of state express their solidarity with the president and firmly reject these destabilizing political actions, which are based on questionable jurisdictional provisions,” added Mr. Adrianzén on the X network.
According to the government, at the time of the searches, Mme Boluarte was in his residence in the Government Palace and “will make statements to the prosecution when he summons it”.
Images broadcast by local television show investigators surround the president’s home located in Surquillo, in the suburbs of Lima, and form a human barrier to prevent car traffic in the adjacent streets.
PHOTO MARTIN MEJIA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The police intervention was carried out at the request of the public prosecutor after the rejection by the prosecution of Ms.me Boluarte to present the luxury watches and the documents relating to their acquisition herself.
In the event of prosecution, the Peruvian president cannot, under the Constitution, be subjected to trial before July 2026, the date of the end of her mandate.
The Rolex scandal erupted after a local news site, La Encerrona, published a series of photos on March 15 showing Mme Boluarte sporting different luxury watches while in government in 2021 and 2022.
PHOTO CARLOS BARRIA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte
After the report, Mme Boluarte assured that he had “clean hands” and only owned one watch, an older model purchased with his savings. “I entered the Government Palace with clean hands and I will leave with clean hands, as I promised the Peruvian people,” she said.
The president, aged 61, is already the subject of an investigation for “genocide, aggravated homicide and serious injury” after the death of more than 50 people during the two months of social unrest which accompanied her accession to the head of State.
Dina Boluarte became president after the impeachment in early December 2022 and the arrest of left-wing head of state Pedro Castillo, of whom she was vice-president.
At the beginning of March she had to change prime minister, Alberto Otarola having announced his resignation after the opening of an investigation for influence peddling following the broadcast of audio recordings compromising him. This close friend of the president took office in December 2022.