Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo who faces charges of corruption has been arrested in the US. An extradition request issued in March 2018 and he was arrested on a recent visit to Stanford University, near San Fransisco. He was sought after being named by a former Odbrecht’s Jorge Barata, who as part of a plea bargain is dropping the dime on some of those who shared in a near $800m (£640m) in bribes paid to government officials across Latin America. Mr Toledo allegedly received his share – $20m in bribes for granting the firm a contract to build a highway linking Peru and Brazil.
Editorial credit: Alf Ribeiro / Shutterstock.com
This must have been part of the Presidential package given his two successors during the timeframe of the scandal have also been named. Both Alan Garcia who took over in office on 28 July 2006 and Ollanta Humala who took office on 28 July 2011 have similarly proclaimed their innocence, however, Mr Garcia subsequently committed suicide before he could be brought to trial.
The Odebrecht scandal, probably the worlds largest to date has rocked Latin America and to date, senior politicians & officials in eleven countries have been implicated and suspicions remain regarding the untimely death of whistleblower Jorge Enrique Pizano & his son.
We doubt this will be the last you hear about this.
