LIMA, PERU -- Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was interrogated by prosecutors for five hours Friday as authorities investigate whether she illegally received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, luxury watches and jewelry.
Prosecutors have been investigating the highly unpopular leader on charges of illicit enrichment and failures to declare assets. After she gave testimony, Boluarte rolled out of the offices in a car with tinted windows, surrounded by police and security detail. Neither Boluarte nor prosecutors detailed what was said in the meeting.
The unfolding scandal is the latest turmoil that has wracked Peru’s political system in recent years. Earlier in the day, scuffles broke out as opposing protesters gathered near the building, waiting for Boluarte to leave.
While a number of protestors came to defend the president carrying a sign reading “Dina resist," others blocks away from the presidential palace railed against the embattled leader, carrying brooms and shouting “get them all out!” They were blocked by riot police, who drove them away with tear gas.
The probe began in mid-March after the digital news program La Encerrona spotlighted Boluarte wearing a Rolex watch worth up to US$14,000 in Peru. Other TV shows later reported that the leader was seen wearing at least two other Rolexes as well as a gold and diamond Cartier bracelet estimated to cost more than US$54,000.
The controversy was quickly dubbed “Rolexgate” on social media.
Peruvian law requires officials to declare jewelry whose price exceeds US$2,791, and it’s still not clear where the watches and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank transfers came from.
Boluarte has provided scarce details about the suspicious transactions and jewelry, which she did not declare to authorities, but said that the Rolex first shown in photos was the “fruit of my labour" working since she was 18.
The controversy will only add headwinds for Boluarte, who is unpopular with 86 per cent of Peruvians, according to a March survey by the Institute of Peruvian Studies.
“She has no good governance, she’s rejected by the majority, her problems with the people are very serious,” said Alonso Cárdenas, political science professor at Peru’s Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University.
Late Friday, armed police officers broke down the front door of Boluarte’s house with a battering ram and entered the property to search for the watches. They did not find them, and moved on to the presidential palace, where they also weren't located.
Top prosecutor Juan Villena said Tuesday that his office was expanding the scope of the investigation, given that investigators believe Boluarte has even more undeclared assets than they originally suspected.
The office estimated that her jewelry, including the Cartier bracelet and watches, may be worth as much as US$500,000, and said she received more than US$400,000 in “deposits of unknown origin” into her bank account.
Boluarte, a 61-year-old lawyer, was a modest district official before entering then-President Pedro Castillo’s government as vice president and social inclusion minister with a total monthly salary of US$8,136 in July 2021. She became president in December 2022 — after Parliament dismissed Castillo — with a salary of US$4,200 per month. Shortly after, she began wearing the watches in public.
The raid on Friday marked the first time in Peru’s history that police forcibly entered the home of a sitting president. It came after Boluarte requested more time to answer a court subpoena to testify about the case, which was denied as lead prosecutor Villena emphasized Boluarte’s obligation to cooperate with the investigation.
The Andean nation is no stranger to political tumult. Peru has had six presidents in six years, following waves of political controversies. That doesn't mean Boluarte is soon to be ejected from the presidency; analysts told The Associated Press she is unlikely to face any real consequences – at least in the short term. Sitting presidents in Peru can’t be charged with crimes while in office, and Congress will be reluctant to move forward with impeachment proceedings.
Boluarte's alliance with a coalition of congressional leaders means she will likely stay in office until 2026, said Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin American studies for the Council of Foreign Relations. Freeman says Boluarte is a “puppet” who has enabled the lawmakers to pass reforms that are slowly “dismantling democracy” so that they can stay in power.
Peru’s Congress on Thursday shot down two requests by a number of lawmakers to remove Boluarte from office.
Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.
