A Peruvian court has sentenced former President Alejandro Toledo to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
The company spent millions of dollars on bribes to government officials and others throughout Latin America.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to AP.
Authorities accused Toledo of accepting a $35 million bribe from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing highway construction. The Lima court handed down the verdict after years of legal wrangling, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who ruled Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States.
Odebrecht, which has built some of Latin America’s most important infrastructure projects, admitted to US authorities in 2016 of buying government contracts across the region with generous bribes. The US Department of Justice investigation led to investigations in several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador.
In Peru, authorities accused Toledo and three other former presidents of accepting payments from the construction giant. They claim that Toledo received $35 million from Odebrecht in exchange for a contract to build 650 kilometers of highway linking Brazil with southern Peru.
Toledo has denied the allegations. His lawyer Roberto Siu told reporters after the hearing that they would appeal the verdict.
Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez called the verdict “historic” after the hearing and said it shows Peruvians that “crime and corruption are punished.”
We remind you that in April The mayor of Renisky from the Odessa region was sentenced to nine years in prison. He was found guilty of accepting a bribe.
