Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique surrendered to US federal authorities to be extradited to his home country, informed Associated Press. There, the former head of state was accused of accepting bribes of at least $20 million.
The federal prosecutor’s office said it would hand Toledo over to Peruvian authorities, after which the former president would be taken to Peru. When it is planned to implement this, the ministry did not specify.
Alejandro Toledo, 77, was arrested on an extradition request in 2019 in California. In 2020, he was released on bail and placed under house arrest.
Peruvian authorities accuse Toledo of taking at least $20 million in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for a government contract to build a highway. The ex-president denies any involvement in the fraud and calls the charges against him politically motivated.
Toledo has attempted to appeal the decision of US authorities to extradite him to Peru. His lawyers have argued that the 77-year-old politician’s life would be in danger if he returned to his native country. However, in April, a federal judge in a California district court ruled there was sufficient evidence of Toledo’s possible involvement in corrupt activities. As a result, the court denied the former president’s motion.
Alejandro Toledo was president of Peru from 2001 to 2006. In addition to him, three other ex-presidents of the country appear in the “Odebrecht affair”:
Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) is accused of having received more than 3 million dollars from a construction company to finance his electoral campaign; Pedro Kuczynski (2016-2018) is under house arrest, suspected of being involved in receiving payments of approximately $5 million from affiliated companies for consulting services; Alan Garcia (1985-1990, 2006-2011), according to investigators, could receive $ 100,000 from Odebrecht in exchange for helping to conclude lucrative contracts. In 2019 he attempted suicide when police arrived at his home with a warrant for his arrest, only to die in hospital hours later.
Corruption scandal around Odebrecht
In 2016, the US Department of Justice reported that Odebrecht officials had bribed politicians and high-ranking officials in various Latin American countries for 15 years in exchange for lucrative contracts with state oil company Petrobras. The recipients of the monetary “thanks” included officials from Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
Odebrecht paid a total of $439 million in bribes between 2001 and 2016, according to US authorities. Marcelo Odebrecht, the general manager of the Brazilian construction giant, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Odebrecht has participated in major infrastructure projects. The company was notably involved in the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2016 Olympic Games and many others.
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