Alejandro Toledo: US to return Peruvian money seized from ex-president

The United States will give Peru more than half a million dollars The money was confiscated from the former Peru president Alexander Toledo (2001-2006), investigated for corruption The Odebrecht case.

The US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it would sendApproximately $686,000 To the Government of Peru, seized from the former President.

It’s Toledo Accused of accepting tens of millions of dollars in bribes from Odebrecht In exchange for supporting a Brazilian construction company in its business in Peru, while he was still the country’s president.

“This case is an important example of the need for international cooperation to address corruption abroad when illegal proceeds are brought into the United States,” Kenneth Polid, deputy attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department, said in a statement.

Alejandro Toledo was charged with money laundering

The former Peruvian president has been prosecuted for the alleged crimes Money laundering, collusion and influence peddlingIn relation to contracts awarded to Odebrecht for the construction of a maritime corridor between Brazil and Peru.

According to the US Department of Justice, Toledo used about $1.2 million in bribes Buy property in Maryland. Seized funds are derived from the sale of those assets.

For the criminal case against Toledo, The Peruvian prosecutor’s office sought a prison sentence of 20 years and 6 months.

The former president was arrested in 2019 in California, where he lived for several years, and spent 8 months in jail for flight risk, although he was able to get out of jail and go under house arrest in March 2020 due to the COVID outbreak. -19 Pandemic, Covid-19.

Last September, a US judge gave the green light to extradite the former president, finding enough evidence to justify the move, although the final decision now rests in the hands of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

(with information from EFE)