In a high-profile ruling, former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been sentenced to 20 years and 6 months in prison for serious corruption and money laundering. The conviction, announced on October 21, relates to allegations that Toledo accepted $35 million in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to secure a lucrative contract for a transnational highway project connecting Peru’s southern coast to Brazil’s Amazon region.
This ruling marks a significant moment in the sprawling Car Wash corruption scandal that has affected multiple countries across the Americas, as it represents the first prominent conviction in Peru.
At 78 years old, Toledo is an economist with a Ph.D. from Stanford University and served as the President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. Throughout the year-long trial, he staunchly denied the charges of money laundering and conspiracy. Despite this, Odebrecht, which has since rebranded as Novonor, admitted in 2016 to paying bribes to officials in numerous countries to secure public works contracts, positioning the case at the heart of the largest corruption scandal in Latin America.
Last week, Toledo requested to serve his sentence at home, citing his ongoing battle with cancer. He has been held since last year in a small prison in Lima, Peru, with the verdict handed down from a room within the facility.
Peruvian authorities had previously sought his extradition related to the case, leading to his arrest in the United States in 2019.