Peruvian prosecutors have demanded that President Dina Boluarte show the Rolex watches she owns when she comes to testify on Friday as part of an investigation against her for alleged illicit enrichment.

The president’s residence was searched after midnight Friday to Saturday as part of the investigation, which concerns expensive watches the acquisition of which she allegedly did not include in her property declarations.

“The President of the Republic has been officially invited to present the Rolex watches and testify on Friday, April 5,” noted the prosecution in a press release published yesterday Sunday.

She clarified that during the searches of her residence and the government building, the expensive watches were not found and the presidency did not hand them over.

However, the prosecution noted that it proceeded to seize “other elements of interest in the context of the investigation”. Peruvian media explained that documents were found revealing the date of purchase of one of the watches.

In her address to the nation, Mrs. Boulwarte denounced the search of her residence, which she said was “arbitrary, disproportionate, abusive” and “unconstitutional”, speaking of “systematic persecution” against her.

Ms. Boluarte’s defense said police found some watches when they searched the seat of government. The lawyer Mateo Castañeda said that “these are nice watches, but I can’t say how many of them are Rolex.”

The “Rolex scandal” broke out after a Peruvian news website, La Encerrona, began posting on March 15 a series of photos showing President Bolluarte wearing luxury watches in 2021 and 2022 while she was a member of the government.

On March 19, the attorney general’s office announced that a preliminary investigation had begun against the president for “illegal enrichment” and failure to declare “the acquisition of Rolex watches.”

Reacting, Mrs. Boloarte assured that she has “clean hands” and that she only has a watch, of some age, bought with her savings. “I entered the government building with clean hands and I will leave with clean hands, as I have promised the Peruvian people,” he insisted.

The president, 61, was already facing a far more serious indictment of “genocide,” “serial murder with aggravating circumstances” and “causing grievous bodily harm” over the deaths of more than 50 people in the months-long riots that followed her inauguration. , in December 2022.

Dina Boluarte became Peru’s interim president after the suspension by Congress and the arrest by the police of her predecessor Pedro Castillo, elected with a party of the radical left, of which she was vice president.

Earlier this month, the president was forced to replace Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, who resigned after being investigated for influence peddling following the revelation of a phone conversation that exposed him by a media outlet. The president’s close associate, formerly the defense minister, has been a member of the government since December 2022.

Ms. Boulwarte has repeatedly ruled out resigning.

In the event that criminal proceedings are brought against her, the president, by virtue of the Constitution, will not be tried until after July 2026, after her term has ended.