Alejandro Toledo is the latest Latin American leader to be implicated in the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, the latest Latin American leader to be sentenced in connection with the Odebrecht construction company corruption scandal.
Toledo was sentenced Monday to 20 years and six months in prison after being found guilty of accepting $35 million in bribes from a Brazilian construction company in exchange for a highway construction contract.
“I want to go to a private hospital. “Please let me die at home if I don’t get better.” Toledo said during last week’s hearing that he was dealing with health issues due to cancer.
The 78-year-old former leader of the Andean nation, who served from 2001 to 2006, received one of the harshest sentences ever handed down in connection with Odebrecht’s bribery campaign in exchange for political favors across the continent.
During the year-long trial, Toledo consistently denied the money laundering and conspiracy charges brought against him by prosecutors. He was first arrested in the United States in 2019 after Peru requested his extradition, and was extradited back to the United States in 2022 after years of legal wrangling over his possible extradition.
Odebrecht-related scandals led to the imprisonment of officials in Peru, Panama, and Ecuador. Corruption investigations at construction giants have also occurred in countries such as Guatemala and Mexico. The company’s name was later changed to Novonor.
In 2019, Peru detained 14 top lawyers while they were investigated for allegedly giving the company preferential treatment in public works contracts.
Toledo is expected to serve his sentence at a specially built prison to house the former president outside Peru’s capital Lima.
He may soon have additional companions.
Two former presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in similar cases linked to Odebrecht.
Former President Pedro Castillo was also detained on charges of ‘sedition’ following a failed attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.
