Peru has once again been shaken by a corruption scandal involving one of its former presidents. Alejandro Toledo, who led the country from 2001 to 2006, has been sentenced to prison for the second time. Judge Josefa Izaga handed down a sentence of 13 years and four months for money laundering.
This new punishment comes on top of another sentence Toledo received in October 2024. At that time, he was sentenced to 20 years and six months for bribery and corruption. Both sentences are linked to the huge scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
According to prosecutors, Toledo accepted $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht. In exchange, the company was allowed to take on a major road-building project in southern Peru. Authorities say the road was initially estimated to cost about $507 million, but in the end, the Peruvian state paid nearly $1.25 billion for the project.
The former president has strongly denied the accusations. Despite this, the court has found enough evidence to sentence him to long prison terms.
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The Odebrecht Scandal Across Latin America
The case is part of a much larger corruption scandal that spread across Latin America. Odebrecht, once one of the biggest builders in the region, admitted in 2016 that it paid massive bribes to win government contracts. Investigations that began in the United States uncovered how the company influenced projects in multiple countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
In Peru, Toledo is not the only former president caught in the scandal. Ollanta Humala, another former leader, was sentenced just a few months ago to 15 years in prison for laundering money from Odebrecht to finance his election campaigns. In total, four former Peruvian presidents have been accused of taking money from the Brazilian company.
The scandal is one of the most notorious corruption cases in the region’s history. It involved billions of dollars in inflated contracts and dishonest deals that left many countries paying far more for projects than they should have. Roads, bridges, and other large infrastructure works were tied to bribes that benefited politicians instead of the public.
For Peru, the highway linked to Toledo’s case was meant to connect the country with Brazil through more than 650 kilometers of road. While the project was completed, it became a symbol of the corruption that plagued the country’s leadership.
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Arrest, Extradition, and Prison
After leaving office in 2006, Alejandro Toledo moved back to the United States. He lived in California and later returned to Stanford University, where he had once studied, as a visiting scholar. For years, he avoided Peruvian justice while the corruption investigations grew stronger.
In 2019, Toledo was arrested at his California home. He was placed in solitary confinement at first but was later moved to house arrest in 2020 because of his age, health problems, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, authorities in Peru continued to push for his return.
By 2023, U.S. courts cleared the way for his extradition. Toledo surrendered to officials and was sent back to Peru to face trial. Now, at 78 years old, he faces two long prison terms. The sentences will be served at the same time, meaning he will not add them together but will serve the longer one.
The story of Alejandro Toledo’s downfall has shocked Peru. It adds another chapter to the country’s recent history of presidents being accused and convicted of corruption. With his sentencing, the once-celebrated leader joins a list of politicians whose legacies are deeply stained by their ties to Odebrecht.