MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former President Toledo due in Lima Sunday to stand trial

Toledo faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo turned himself in to US authorities Friday and is to remain in custody pending his extradition to the South American country, which is scheduled for Sunday on a commercial flight to Lima, where he will be housed at the Barbadillo prison alongside his former colleagues Alberto Fujimori and Pedro Castillo.

Toledo, who is said to have received over US$ 35 million in bribes from the construction company Odebrecht, is currently held at the Maguire Correctional Center in San Mateo County, in the state of California.

According to El Comercio, the former head of state would be arriving in Lima at 7.30 am as part of his extradition process from the United States.

Peruvian prosecutors issued a warrant for Toledo’s arrest in 2017 for allegedly accepting bribes from Odebrecht between 2001 and 2006. He was jailed in 2019 but released on bail and placed under house arrest at his home in Menlo Park, California pending extradition. Toledo faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Former Peruvian Presidents Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018), Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020), and Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) are currently either under investigation or on trial, while Alan Garcia committed suicide in 2019 before being arrested in the Odebrecht case.

As part of a plea deal with the US government in 2016, Odebrecht admitted to paying US$788 million in bribes to various South American governments. The scandal led to the largest-ever corruption probe in Brazilian history, known as Lava Jato (Car Wash).