Peru ex-president Alejandro Toledo jailed for 20 years over involvement in Car Wash scandal
The Facts
The Superior Court in Lima, Peru, found former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, 78, guilty of accepting $35M in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, and sentenced him to 20 years and six months in prison on Monday.
During his presidency of Peru between 2001 and 2006, Toledo signed a deal with Odebrecht to develop a road connecting Peru's southern coast to western Brazil's Amazonic region. In the continent-wide Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato) corruption probe, Toledo is the first high-profile politician to face bribery conviction.
The Spin
The pan-Latin American bribery scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which exchanged bribes for political favors, led to the downfall of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo. Corruption probes have resulted in the arrest of several public officials in Peru, Ecuador, and Panama. Investigations regarding the construction company are also underway in Mexico and Guatemala. Additionally, two other ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also under investigation.
Former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo has consistently maintained his innocence since Peruvian authorities requested his extradition from the US in 2019. Throughout the year-long trial, Toledo has claimed that the Peruvian Prosecutor's office relied solely on the inconsistent and contradictory testimonies of the Israeli businessman Josef Maiman and the former representative of Odebrecht in Peru, Jorge Barata, whom he referred to as "international criminals" masquerading as businessmen. Toledo will appeal the sentence.