LIMA: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Friday appeared before prosecutors for questioning over her Rolex watches, expensive jewellery, and unexplained bank deposits, in a scandal that has shaken the country’s fragile government.

Attorney General Juan Carlos Villena “initiated the process of taking statements” from Boluarte, who has been ordered to present the undeclared luxury timepieces to investigators, his office wrote on X. She has also been asked to produce receipts and explain the origin of her valuables as part of the probe into illegal enrichment.

The questioning could last several hours and comes after the police raided her home and presidential office on March 30 in search of the alleged collection, which is said to include three high-value Rolex watches, according to photographs published by local media.

The government hopes Boluarte’s statement will put an end to a scandal that provoked two motions to impeach her, both defeated by the right-wing majority in Congress on Thursday.

“I presume that after this explanation there will be no choice for the prosecutor’s office but to close this investigation,” Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said on Thursday.

He said Boluarte “will know how to explain what happened”. The attorney general is also seeking an explanation for Boluarte’s possession of a “$56,000 Cartier bracelet” and other jewellery valued at more than $500,000. Bank deposits of about $250,000 from her time as a minister in 2021 and 2022 are also being investigated.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2024