Vizcarra becomes latest ex-president imprisoned in Peru
At the hearing, Judge Jorge Chavez ordered Vizcarra to be held for five months, making him the fifth former Peruvian president to be jailed in recent years.
Vizcarra is accused of taking bribes equivalent to $640,000 from construction companies in exchange for public works in the Moquegua region between 2011 and 2014.
Vizcarra is now likely headed to a police base in Lima specially built to house former presidents.
The prison is already busy, with former Presidents Alejandro Toledo, Ollanta Humala and Pedro Castillo currently held there. Its first inmate was former President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009 for human rights violations.
Fujimori was pardoned in late 2023, sparking protests around the country. The former leader died of cancer the following year.
Vizcarra, who has denied the charges and claimed to be a victim of political persecution, came to power in 2018 after his predecessor resigned. He was removed from office by Congress two years later when the investigations against him began.
A previous judge had rejected the prosecutor's request detain Vizcarra in June, but the public ministry appealed the ruling, dubbing Vizcarra a flight risk. Vizcarra had also planned to run in the 2026 presidential election.
Vizcarra's lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
The prosecution has requested up to 15 years in prison for the former president. Peru's politics have faced constant turbulence and upheaval, cycling through six presidents since 2018 amid corruption scandals, resignations and removals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
The Mayor of New Orleans had a years-long romance with her bodyguard. She's been indicted for spending city money on hotels and wine tastings with him
The mayor of New Orleans had been treating her bodyguard to trips on the taxpayers' dime during their years-long affair, a new federal grand jury indictment alleges. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted on Friday resulting from a corruption investigation. Cantrell's lawyer confirmed to The Associated Press that an indictment was returned, and her name was read aloud by a federal magistrate judge as a defendant. She has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements and false declaration before a grand jury, according to the indictment. The city of New Orleans told NBC News it will have no comment on the indictment until the mayor's legal team has time to review the indictments. "The Mayor's attorney, Eddie Castaing, recently received the information, and is thoroughly reviewing the document," the statement said. "Until his review is complete, the City will not comment further on this matter." The indictment is the culmination of a long-running federal investigation into Cantrell, the first female mayor in the City's 300-year history. Prosecutors allege that Cantrell was having a romantic relationship with New Orleans Police Officer Jeffrey Paul Vappie II, who is on the department's executive protection unit. That relationship allegedly occurred between 2021 and 2024. Cantrell was married during the period of the alleged affair to attorney Jason Cantrell. He died in August 2023. 'To hide their relations from detection and to maximize their time together, Cantrell and Vappie exploited their public positions to develop and implement a scheme to defraud the city of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department by engaging in personal activities while Vappie claimed to be on duty and was paid for,' the indictment says. They further claimed that the pair had exchanged some 15,000 messages, photos, and audio clips on WhatsApp over an eight month period. The investigators also allege that Cantrell and Vappie were using the app to intimidate their subordinates and hide evidence. Vappie and Cantrell traveled together on 14 trips in eight months, several of which were romantic vacations under the pretense of work trips, according to prosecutors. In total, the city spent $70,000 to sent Vappie along with the mayor on her trips — which in some cases included visits to wine tastings — the prosecutors claimed. Vappie was initially charged with wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. Cantrell was added to the case after an investigation into Vappie's actions. If the pair are convicted, both could go to prison, though for how long varies based on the indictment. Some indictments carry a five year penalty, and others could put them away for up to 20. The term-limited Democratic mayor will leave office in January.
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
New Orleans mayor indicted for corruption over alleged bodyguard romance
The New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on corruption charges involving a purported romance with her former bodyguard. Cantrell, 53, thus became the first New Orleans mayor in the city's 307-year history to be charged by the US government with crimes while still in office. The indictment against Cantrell came after she drew scrutiny for an alleged affair with a now retired New Orleans police officer who had served as her bodyguard. Cantrell and the bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, allegedly plotted to foster their personal and romantic relationship while he was clocked in at work and being paid to provide her with protection. As Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana reported, Cantrell also allegedly arranged for Vappie to accompany her on at least 14 out-of-state trips, including to Scotland and the United Arab Emirates, claiming concerns about her safety that required protection. The trips cost the New Orleans' city government more than $70,000, not counting Cantrell's travel expenses, the charging documents filed on Friday said. The pair were also accused of using a city-owned apartment on the edge of New Orleans's Jackson Square, in its historic French Quarter neighborhood, to spend time together while Vappie was supposed to be on duty. Cantrell and Vappie, 52, are accused of then seeking to cover up the relationship by using an encrypted messaging program and deleting at least some of the 15,000 messages they exchanged, as well as lying to federal agents, grand jurors, colleagues and the public. When a New Orleans resident took photos of the Cantrell and Vappie dining together and drinking wine, the mayor filed a police report and temporarily obtained a restraining order, he said. Friday's charges also allege that Vappie 'attempted to persuade' New Orleans's interim police superintendent from December 2022 to October 2023, Michelle Woodfork, to 'make it right' and exonerate him as investigators circled. Cantrell then met with Woodfork – in front of Vappie – and told her she would not be offered the long-term superintendent's post, the indictment contended. Cantrell and Vappie are facing charges of wire fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit both of those crimes, false statements and untrue declarations to a grand jury. Vappie had already been charged in July 2024 – shortly after he retired from the New Orleans police – with wire fraud and lying to FBI agents. The allegations against him and Cantrell called to mind the 2018 scandal that cost the Nashville mayor, Megan Barry, her job and centered on an affair with her bodyguard, Robert Forrest. Prosecutors who obtained the 2024 charges against Vappie alleged he researched that case online two years beforehand. Friday's charges against Cantrell also come after the September 2024 indictment of New Orleans businessman Randy Farrell. Farrell was charged with exchanging gifts with the mayor so she would allegedly fire a municipal employee who was investigating Farrell's building inspection company. Among the alleged gifts were tickets to a January 2019 New Orleans Saints football game, which was being played with a Super Bowl appearance on the line, a cellphone and lunch at an upscale Ruth's Chris Steak House in the city. Vappie and Farrell had pleaded not guilty to the charges previously filed against them. While the Donald Trump-led US justice department obtained the indictment against Cantrell about seven months into the Republican's second presidency, the federal investigation into the mayor began while Joe Biden – her fellow Democrat – was in his second full year in the Oval Office. The timing of Friday's indictment coincided with the grand jurors being scheduled to wind down their work. Such panels are typically in place for six months, but this one had been extended twice since first convening in February 2024. Cantrell's office issued a statement saying it would not comment on Friday's indictment until it had been reviewed by her defense attorney, Eddie Castaing. At a press briefing, the acting US attorney in New Orleans, Michael Simpson, accused Cantrell and Vappie of 'an incredible betrayal' of the public's trust in its own government. Cantrell, a native of Compton, California, had been a New Orleans city council member before winning election as its first-ever female mayor in November 2017. She succeeded Mitch Landrieu, who later worked for Biden's White House as its infrastructure czar. The Cantrell administration's first four-year term was partly marked by its guiding the city through the Covid-19 pandemic. And, in 2019, New Orleans registered a 47-year low of homicides. Cantrell was re-elected in November 2021, and her second term has been considerably turbulent. The federal investigation began with 2022 subpoenas issued regarding an image consultant she employed. Her husband – Jason, with whom she had a daughter – unexpectedly died in August 2023. And, as the AP noted, her civic profile receded as she locked herself into feuds with a hostile city council while alienating former confidantes as well as supporters. The city council responded by weakening the mayor's power through voter-approved changes to the municipal governing charter. Cantrell and her remaining allies maintain that, as a Black woman, she has been treated differently from her male predecessors. Simpson on Friday denied that race or gender factored into the investigation against Cantrell. Cantrell was term-limited from seeking another stint as mayor and is due to leave office in January. Several candidates have signed up to run to replace her in a primary election set for October. Only one other person who has served as New Orleans mayor has been charged with federal crimes: Ray Nagin. Nagin was the New Orleans mayor when the failure of federal levees there during Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005 destroyed the city and caused about 1,400 deaths. He was charged after leaving office and convicted in 2014 on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, filing false tax returns and conspiracy. He then received a 10-year prison sentence. The Associated Press and WWL Louisiana contributed reporting
The Independent
20 hours ago
- The Independent
Explosion in high-crime area in northern Peru injures 10 people and damages 25 homes
An explosion on a street in a northern Peruvian region plagued by organized crime injured at least 10 people and damaged 25 homes, authorities said Friday. Interior Minister Carlos Malaver said the Thursday night blast in the city of Trujillo could be related to disputes between criminal groups primarily involved in extortion, one of the crimes that has increased the most in Peru in recent years. The explosion, which also interrupted electric service in the area and affected an unknown number of vehicles, was the second explosion reported in the South American country Thursday. The first went off at a gym in the capital, Lima, but no injuries were immediately reported. Explosive attacks, especially on small businesses, are reported almost daily by local media in Lima and other Peruvian cities, including in the state of La Libertad, which encompasses Trujillo. Detonations inside public transportation buses, resulting in injuries, have also been reported. The government of La Libertad has previously acknowledged that crime sometimes overwhelms police. The state's emergency service agency in a statement Friday said some of the people injured in Thursday's blast suffered burns and cuts, but it did not detail their conditions further. Extortion complaints in Peru totaled 15,989 between January and July of this year, a 28% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to official data.
