Off the wire
• Brazil, Argentina seek closer ties with Mexico  • Drugs, theft behind a rise in number of female offenders in Australia: statistics  • 1st LD-Writethru: Chinese yuan weakens to 6.8849 against USD Wednesday  • Low-level flyers in New Zealand bid to measure Antarctic sea ice  • New Zealand removes cannabis medicines from political influence  • Indian markets open flat  • Tokyo stocks mixed in morning as yen's rise impacts exporter shares  • Cambodian PM urges people to support gov't in anti-drug campaign  • Chinese arrivals to Vietnam up nearly 68 pct in January  • Ecuador's FM calls on compliance with UN ruling on WikiLeaks founder  
You are here: 　 Home

Former Peruvian president faces jail for graft

Xinhua, February 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Peru's Public Ministry called for a preventive prison sentence Tuesday against former President Alejandro Toledo over alleged corruption charges.

On Monday, the ministry said that it has begun an investigation against Toledo for allegedly using his influence in money laundering. The statement was made after a search of a house that belongs to the former leader on Saturday.

According to Hamilton Castro, Peru's anti-corruption prosecutor, the authorities have begun to investigate Josef Maiman, a businessman and close friend of Toledo, as well as Jorge Barata, a former executive for Odebrecht Latinvest in Peru.

The ministry also said that Barata paid Toledo 20 million U.S. dollars through offshore accounts in Andorra. And 11 million dollars was found on accounts belonging to Maiman in Britain, according to the statement.

These illicit payments are suspected to have a linkage to the contract for the Interoceanic highway linking Peru with Brazil, which was awarded to Odebrecht and other Brazilian construction firms.

Speaking to the Peruvian press last week from Paris, France, Toledo said he was the victim of "political persecution" and that he had already been investigated without any solid evidence against him. Endi