Latest news with #LavaJato
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Peru jails ex-president over corruption scandal
Peru jailed a former president for accepting bribes from a Brazilian construction firm, the latest senior politician to be felled by a continent-wide corruption scandal. Ollanta Humala, who led Peru from 2011 to 2016, was found guilty of accepting illicit campaign funds from Odebrecht, which has admitted to handing out bribes for years across Latin America. Humala is the second former Peruvian leader to be jailed over the scandal, known as Operation Car Wash or Lava Jato, but the controversy centered on Brazil, upending the political careers of current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his protege Dilma Rousseff, and helping drive anti-establishment anger that propelled the nationalist Jair Bolsonaro to office.
NBC News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Peruvian ex-President jailed for money laundering as Brazil grants diplomatic asylum to his wife
A Peruvian court on Tuesday sentenced ex-President Ollanta Humala to 15 years in prison for receiving illicit campaign funds from a Brazilian construction firm, making him the nation's latest former leader to head behind bars. Humala and his wife were accused of receiving funds from Brazilian builder Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, in his successful 2011 election campaign. Humala's wife, Nadine Heredia, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday. Peru's foreign ministry said that following the verdict Heredia entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima to request asylum. According to one of Humala's lawyers in Brazil, Marco Aurelio de Carvalho, Heredia has cancer and had previously requested permission to travel to Brazil for treatment, but the request was declined. Following the verdict, Peru's Foreign Ministry said Heredia entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima to request diplomatic asylum, which was granted for her and her youngest son. The Peruvian government also said it would provide safe-passage and guarantees for their transfer. Humala, a retired military officer who led the Andean nation from 2011 to 2016, will likely carry out his sentence on a police base built specially to house Peru's jailed leaders. Former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are currently jailed at the site, while Alberto Fujimori stayed there until his release in 2023. During his trial, which lasted three years after an investigation which kicked off in 2016, Humala decried the charges as political persecution. Prosecutors alleged Humala received the illicit funds in his 2011 campaign against Keiko Fujimori — the other former president's daughter — through Humala's Nationalist Party. His imprisonment will be effective immediately, even if he appeals the conviction. The court is expected to continue reading out the full sentencing over the next several days. Humala's lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, called the sentence 'excessive,' saying prosecutors failed to prove the illegal origin of the funds. He said the defense plans to appeal once the final ruling is issued on April 29. A one-time construction colossus, Odebrecht has admitted that it doled out bribes to governments across Latin America to help build its vast empire. It changed its name to Novonor in 2020 and is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Humala is Peru's second former president to be jailed and the fourth to be implicated for his role in the sweeping graft case known as 'Lava Jato.' In 2019, former President Alan Garcia killed himself by gunshot wound as police descended on his home to arrest him for alleged corruption related to the firm. The year before, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced to step down after just two years in office. Meanwhile, Toledo was sentenced to two decades in prison last year after receiving $35 million in bribes in exchange for public works contracts. Former Odebrecht executives have said in Peruvian court that the firm had financed nearly all presidential candidates in the country for a nearly 30-year period.
Express Tribune
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Peru jails former president Humala Ollanta and wife for 15 years
Listen to article Peru's former president Ollanta Humala was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of accepting illicit campaign funding from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. His wife, Nadine Heredia, received an identical sentence. Shortly after the ruling, Peru's foreign ministry confirmed she had entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima and was granted diplomatic asylum, citing health concerns. She will be allowed safe passage to travel to Brazil with her youngest son. Ollanta Humala, who served from 2011 to 2016, becomes the latest in a string of former Peruvian leaders to be imprisoned for corruption-related charges. The court found that Ollanta Humala and Nadine Heredia received illegal contributions during his presidential bids in 2006 and 2011. The funds allegedly came from Odebrecht – now known as Novonor – which has admitted to decades-long bribery schemes throughout Latin America. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence for Ollanta Humala and 26 years for Nadine Heredia. Both were accused of funnelling millions through the Nationalist Party to fund election campaigns. They denied the charges and plan to appeal after the full ruling is issued on 29 April. The couple's legal troubles began in 2016, shortly after Ollanta Humala left office. A year later, they were detained during a preliminary investigation. While released in 2018, the judicial probe continued, culminating in the verdict this week. Nadine Heredia's legal team noted she had been refused prior requests to leave Peru for cancer treatment. Brazilian officials have not disclosed further details about the asylum conditions. Ollanta Humala will serve his sentence at a police base that has housed other former Peruvian presidents. Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are currently imprisoned there, while Alberto Fujimori was released in 2023. The Lava Jato investigation has ensnared leaders across the region. In 2019, ex-president Alan García died by suicide as police attempted to arrest him over alleged Odebrecht-related bribery. Odebrecht's executives have testified that nearly every major presidential campaign in Peru over a 30-year span received funding from the company.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Peru court jails ex-President Humala in Odebrecht-linked money laundering case
By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - A Peruvian court on Tuesday sentenced ex-President Ollanta Humala to 15 years in prison for receiving illicit campaign funds from a Brazilian construction firm, making him nation's latest former leader to head behind bars. Humala and his wife were accused of receiving funds from Brazilian builder Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, in his successful 2011 election campaign. Humala's wife, Nadine Heredia, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday. The ex-president, a retired military officer who led the Andean nation from 2011 to 2016, will likely carry out his sentence on a police base built specially to house Peru's jailed leaders. Former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are currently jailed at the site, while Alberto Fujimori stayed there until his release in 2023. During his trial, which lasted three years after an investigation which kicked off in 2016, Humala decried the charges as political persecution. Prosecutors alleged Humala received the illicit funds in his 2011 campaign against Keiko Fujimori - the other former president's daughter - through Humala's Nationalist Party. His imprisonment will be effective immediately, even if he appeals the conviction. The court is expected to continue reading out the full sentencing over the next several days. LATEST 'LAVA JATO' CONVICTION A one-time construction colossus, Odebrecht had admitted that it doled out bribes to governments across Latin America to help build its vast empire. It changed its name to Novonor in 2020 and is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Humala is Peru's second former president to be jailed and the fourth to be implicated for his role in the sweeping graft case known as "Lava Jato." In 2019, former President Alan Garcia killed himself by gunshot wound as police descended on his home to arrest him for alleged corruption related to the firm. The year before, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was forced to step down after just two years in office. Meanwhile, Toledo was sentenced to two decades in prison last year after receiving $35 million in bribes in exchange for public works contracts. Former Odebrecht executives have said in Peruvian court that the firm had financed nearly all presidential candidates in the country for a nearly 30-year period.
