Lima, Peru – Alejandro Toledo, president of Peru from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced last week to 20 years and six months in prison after being found guilty of accepting $35 million in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. In return, Toledo allegedly favored the company with public works contracts.
The historic ruling makes him the first former Peruvian president convicted in connection with the Odebrecht affair, a corruption scandal that compromised several former Latin American leaders, including former Peruvian presidents Ollanta Humala and Alan García, the latter of whom has since died in 2019.
Investigations in Toledo began in 2015 and revealed that bribes were allegedly transferred to offshore accounts linked to his late friend and businessman Josef Maiman. Peru’s Public Ministry presented evidence of these transfers, including that over $10 million was sent to accounts under the name of Toledo’s mother-in-law, enabling Odebrecht to secure the contract for the Interoceanic Highway, a 650-kilometer project linking Brazil to Peru. the coast
Silvana Carrión, ad hoc prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice for “Lava Jato” CASE (Operation Car Wash as it is known in Brazil), explained the importance of this sentence in an interview with Peru reports.
“This decision is very significant as it determines the involvement of a president in serious acts of corruption,” she said. She further emphasized that this offense “deserves the most severe punishment,” Carrión said.
The Toledo investigation included strong evidence, not only from Maiman’s previous testimony, but also from other key witnesses, as well as from accounting and financial analyzes detailing the trail of money in accounts managed by Toledo through Maiman. Carrión emphasized that these elements confirmed the “money trail”, especially the “$35 million that went in for sections 2 and 3” of the highway.
Throughout the trial, Toledo pleaded not guilty, claiming Maiman had kept the money. However, Carrión said the defense was baseless. “He’s been saying this throughout the trial, but it’s now been rebutted … what the judges will consider is documentary evidence, testimony and expertise.”
In addition, the Office of the Attorney General is taking action on the assets of Jorge Barata, the former director of Odebrecht in Peru and a key figure in the bribery network. Although Barata did not testify during the trial, his previous statements were used and evidence of property transfers made to his relatives was examined. Carrión stressed that “the Office of the Attorney General is taking the necessary steps regarding these assets, which are registered in the names of third parties.”
Finally, Carrión underlined that this sentence is essential not only for punishing the guilty, but also for sending a message of rejection of corruption. “The mistrust we currently have in authorities, officials and public administration is due to actions like those carried out by Mr. Alejandro Toledo,” she concluded.
This conviction, along with pending investigations into the Ecoteva case, an alleged money laundering offense involving Toledo, marks an important step in the fight against corruption in Peru and the region.
In addition to Toledo, the last elected Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, is currently in prison after a failed coup on December 7, 2022, and could face up to 32 years in prison if convicted of crimes of criminal organization, aggravated collusion and impact on trade. committed during his term are proven.
In the past 23 years, with the exception of two interim presidents, every other Peruvian president has faced legal trouble and ended up imprisoned, in exile, or at least tainted by corruption at some point.
In April 2019, with evidence mounting against him and a request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for detention, Alan García, president from 2006 to 2011, shot himself in the temple and died without facing trial.
