Former president of Peru, Alejandro Toledo was on Sunday, remanded in prison custody, hours after being extradited from the United States to face charges of money laundering and corruption during his tenure.
Gatekeepers News reports that 77-year-old Toledo arrived in Lima from Los Angeles in the custody of Interpol officers, who handed him over to local law enforcement, television images showed.
Toledo, who served as president of the South American country from 2001 to 2006, is wanted by Peruvian prosecutors investigating a sprawling scandal involving Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
He is accused of having received millions of dollars from Odebrecht in return for public works contracts, and prosecutors are asking that Toledo be sentenced to more than 20 years in jail.
Toledo had been living in the United States for several years before surrendering on Friday at a Federal court building in San Jose, California, where he was handed over to the US Marshals Service.
Toledo is due to remain in detention while awaiting trial in 18 months.
Toledo’s lawyer, Roberto Su, told journalists in Lima that his client “has many pains” and is suffering from “cancer.” He did not offer more details.
Toledo has denied the allegations against him and had filed several petitions to contest his extradition, which Peru had sought since 2018.
He was first detained in 2019 and then placed under house arrest a year later and ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor.
Peruvian prosecutors say they have testimony from two people who claim Toledo received bribes from Odebrecht.
They are Josef Maiman, a businessman who said he used his companies to divert illicit payments from Odebrecht, and Jorge Barata, a former agent for Odebrecht in Peru.
The firm has acknowledged paying bribes in Brazil and several other Latin American nations in the so-called Car Wash scandal, which has seen dozens of politicians and business figures behind bars.
The Barbadillo prison where Toledo was sent also houses fellow former presidents Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) and Pedro Castillo (2021-22).
Castillo was ousted and arrested last December shortly after attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree.His arrest sparked months of street protests which left dozens dead and disrupted the country’s lucrative tourism industry.
Three other former Peruvian presidents currently face corruption investigations. They are Ollanta Humala (president from 2011 to 2016), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-18), Martin Vizcarra (2018-20).
Fujimori is serving a prison sentence for human rights abuses but was also convicted of corruption.
Another former president, Alan Garcia, died by suicide in 2019 as police were preparing to arrest him in the Odebrecht case.
