Peru ex-president, wife held

over alleged corruption

Agence France-Presse / 09:31 AM July 15, 2017

Peruvian former President Ollanta Humala (2R) is being taken to the judge to get his
sentence in Lima on July 13, 2017.
Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia were sentenced to 18 months of preventive prison
on money laundering and conspiracy charges tied to a corruption scandal involving
Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. AFP

LIMA, PeruFormer Peruvian president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia
have spent their first night in jail over charges of accepting illegal campaign donations
from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

The couple surrendered to Judge Richard Concepcion Carhuanco late Thursday, after
following their televised 21-hour marathon sentencing hearing from home.

The judge ordered 18 months of pre-trial detention for the couple for the crime of
money laundering against the interest of the state.
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Humala, president from 2011-2016, said the ruling is a confirmation of abuse of

power, vowing on Twitter to face it head-on in defense of our rights.

Defense attorneys said the couple would appeal their preventive detention on Monday
and hoped for a response within 10 days.
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The couple, whose three minor children were sent to live with a grandmother, spent
Thursday night in holding cells in the Justice Ministry, then were transferred Friday to
their respective prisons.
Humalas lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said the couple were doing well so far.

They are in good spirits, strengthened by the decision to submit to the judges
authority, he said.

Humala will be in the same prison as former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. In
2000, when Humala was an army officer, he attempted a coup against the Fujimori
government; he was later pardoned.

Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in 2007 for corruption and crimes against humanity.

Four of Perus last five presidents have faced corruption scandals.

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Kuczynski said the country had earned a good reputation for its fight against corruption,
having taken drastic measures, with a great economic cost without doubt, but which
are having effect.

The Odebrecht group came under scrutiny during the probe of a massive pay-to-play
scheme at Brazils state oil company Petrobras that has tarnished the names of Brazils
top politicians and business executives.

The fallout spread across Latin America when Odebrecht executives admitted in plea
bargains that a secret company bribery department systematically paid multi-million-
dollar bribes to win public works contracts in 12 countries in the region.

The Brazilian construction giant admitted to paying $29 million in bribes in Peru to win
government building contracts between 2005 and 2014 a time period that also
includes the presidencies of Alejandro Toledo and Alan Garcia.

Toledo president from 2001-2006 is currently in the United States in defiance of

an 18-month pre-trial detention order for allegedly receiving $20 million in Odebrecht
bribes.

One of the main prosecution claims is that Humala and Heredia accepted $3 million
from Odebrecht for the 2011 presidential campaign.
Humala denies the charge, though he says that Peruvian law does not forbid foreign
campaign contributions.

The prosecution also claims that Humala accepted contributions from Venezuela during
his failed 2006 presidential bid.

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