A Peruvian court has handed down a 20-year and six-month prison sentence to former President Alejandro Toledo for corruption and money laundering. Prosecutors accused him of accepting $35 million in bribes from a Brazilian construction firm awarded a road contract in southern Peru.
Toledo, who served as president from 2001 to 2006, was arrested in California five years ago and was extradited to Peru last year. The Brazilian company involved, Odebrecht, has confessed to paying millions in bribes to various officials throughout Latin America and the U.S. in order to secure government contracts.
During the ruling, Judge Inés Rojas emphasized that Peruvians had placed their trust in Toledo to manage public finances responsibly. She stated that he had ultimately “defrauded the state.”
Toledo has consistently denied the charges against him. Reports indicate that he displayed dismissive behavior in court, often smirking and even laughing during the judge’s remarks.
This case follows a troubling trend in Peruvian politics, with another former president, Alan García, committing suicide in 2019 as police arrived to arrest him over bribery allegations linked to Odebrecht, which has since rebranded itself as Novonor. Additionally, former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala are under investigation in connection with the Odebrecht scandal.
