Former Peruvian President Toledo receives more than 20 years in prison

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo attends a court hearing where the judge will rule on his corruption case in Lima, Peru, October 21. (AP)

LIMA, Peru, October 22 (AP): Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced Monday to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has become synonymous with corruption across America Latin, where he paid millions. dollars in bribes to government officials and others.

Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country. The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in the capital, Lima, imposed the sentence after years of legal wrangling, including over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States. United.

Judge Inés Rojas said the Toledo victims were Peruvians who “trusted” him as president. Rojas explained that in this role, Toledo was “in charge of the management of public finances” and responsible for “protecting and guaranteeing the proper” use of resources. she said he “defrauded the state.” She added that Toledo “had a duty to act with absolute neutrality, to protect and preserve state property, avoiding their abuse or exploitation,” but it did not do so.

Odebrecht, who built some of Latin America’s most crucial infrastructure projects, admitted to U.S. authorities in 2016 that he bought government contracts across the region with generous bribes. The investigation led by the US Department of Justice resulted in investigations in several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador.

In Peru, authorities have accused Toledo and three other former presidents of receiving payments from the construction giant. They claimed that Toledo received $35 million from Odebrecht in exchange for the contract to build 650 kilometers (403 miles) of a highway linking Brazil to southern Peru. This section of the highway was initially estimated to cost $507 million, but Peru ultimately paid $1.25 billion.

Rojas at one point read portions of the testimony of Jorge Barata, a former Odebrecht executive in Peru, who told prosecutors that the former president called him up to three times after leaving office to demand let him be paid. Toledo looked down and looked at his hands as Rojas read the expletive-laden remarks Barata told prosecutors.