The home of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte was raided on Saturday March 30 as part of an investigation into illicit enrichment, with the leader suspected of not having declared a collection of luxury watches among 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". 

Images broadcast by local television show investigators surrounding the president's home located in Surquillo, a suburb of Lima, and forming a human barrier to prevent car traffic in the adjacent streets.

The police intervention was carried out at the request of the public prosecutor after the prosecution had rejected Dina Boluarte's request 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 subject to trial before July 2026, the date of the end of her mandate. 

“Clean hands”

The Rolex scandal erupted after a local news site, La Encerrona, published a series of photos on March 15 showing Dina Boluarte sporting different luxury watches while in government in 2021 and 2022.

After the report, Dina Boluarte assured that she had “clean hands” and only owned a watch of a certain age, purchased with her 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 and arrest of left-wing head of state Pedro Castillo, of whom she was vice president. 

With AFP

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