Peru’s former president sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in corruption case linked to Odebrecht scandal

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison last week for his involvement in the Odebrecht corruption scandal, a sprawling bribery scheme orchestrated by the Brazilian construction giant in multiple countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Following years of legal proceedings, a court in Lima, Peru’s capital, found Toledo guilty of collusion and money laundering after he accepted $35 million in bribes from the construction company in exchange for approval to build a highway. He had been held in prison since April 2023, when he was extradited from the United States, the Associated Press reported. Toledo, who held office between 2001 and 2006, is one of four former presidents to be investigated in Peru for allegedly accepting bribes from Odebrecht, according to AP.

“The trial determined that Toledo Manrique colluded with interested parties such as Odebrecht so that, through a bribe of $35 million, the Brazilian company was awarded the contract for the construction of sections 2 and 3 of the Interoceanic Highway, causing harm to the State”, a press release from the judiciary of Peru said. Authorities noted that Toledo’s sentence was reached after 175 hearings, statements from more than 100 witnesses, and the presentation of swathes of documentary evidence.

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“In this case, having demonstrated a series or a rosary of irregularities, an unusual interference, an acceleration of the process and the direct and indirect intervention of Mr. Toledo in the process, Mr. Toledo has carried out the typical conduct of the breach of duty, defrauding the State,” Judge Inés Rojas said during the sentencing announcement, according to CNN.

Much of the evidence at the center of the Peruvian case came from Jorge Barata, former head of Odebrecht in Peru, said Óscar Libón, an investigative reporter at America TV in Lima and an ICIJ partner. Barata told authorities that the construction firm had given Toledo money in exchange for the contract, initially sparking the investigation. Shortly after, Toledo left for the U.S., where he was arrested at his home in California in 2019. He has denied wrongdoing and told the court he “never made any arrangement with Mr. Barata.”

ICIJ’s Bribery Division examined leaked files from inside a special unit created by Odebrecht to pay cash for contracts. The 2019 investigation exposed new details about prominent figures in Latin America and public works projects embroiled in the scheme the U.S. Justice Department called the “largest foreign bribery case in history.”

In 2016, Odebrecht agreed to pay at least $2.6 billion in penalties to resolve charges brought by authorities in the U.S., Brazil and Switzerland. According to the Justice Department, Odebrecht admitted to paying around “$788 million in bribes to government officials, their representatives and political parties in a number of countries in order to win business in those countries,” between 2001 and 2016.

However, last year, a judge in Brazil’s supreme court annulled evidence obtained through an agreement between prosecutors and Odebrecht relating to the investigation, dubbed Operation Lava Jato, meaning car wash in Portuguese.

“There have been judicial instances in Brazil that have established that a large part of the statements of former Odebrecht executives should not be taken into account, not only in Brazil, but also in the Peruvian case,” said Libón, who has covered the case for over a decade.

“The important thing about the Toledo sentence is that the Peruvian judge has taken into account the statements that former Odebrecht executives gave to Peruvian prosecutors at the time,” Libón added.

From the start, the construction of the southern Interoceanic Highway was marred by complaints and irregularities, according to Convoca, an investigative outlet in Peru and ICIJ partner. Cost estimates for the project ballooned from $800 million to nearly $2 billion, Convoca reported.

Responding to Toledo’s arrest, anti-corruption organization Transparency International said the Odebrecht “scandal and its aftermath underscore the urgent need for stronger action against cross-border corruption.”

“Foreign bribery and other forms of transnational corruption come with immense costs and consequences for countries and communities worldwide, undermining sustainable development and contributing to rising inequalities,” the statement said.