Ex-President Toledo of Peru turns himself in to the US for extradition

Alejandro Toledo is scheduled to be extradited to Peru to answer to allegations of bribery in a case involving corruption.

Alejandro Toledo, a former president of Peru, has surrendered to American authorities and is anticipated to be extradited back to that nation to face charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes from a Brazilian corporation.

After prosecutors in Peru sought Toledo’s extradition as part of the corruption investigation, he was arrested in July 2019 at his Menlo Park, California home, starting a year-long legal struggle that culminated on Friday with his surrender.

He is accused of accepting bribes of at least $20 million from Odebrecht, a major Brazilian construction firm that has revealed to US authorities that it has long bribed politicians in order to obtain contracts throughout Latin America.

Toledo, who served as Peru’s president from 2001 to 2006, has refuted the accusations and asked for a stay of extradition. But last week, a US court of appeals rejected his most recent motion, and a federal judge ordered him to turn himself in.

After being detained for the first time in the US, Toledo was freed on home arrest.

According to US prosecutors, Toledo will be picked up in Northern California by Peruvian officials, who will then fly him back to their country.

Toledo will be transferred to Lima, the capital of Peru, in two to three days, according to Silvana Carrion, the local prosecutor in charge of the case, who spoke to local television station Canal N.

The former president is being sought for a 20-year prison term by Peruvian prosecutors.

Toledo, 77, is one of four former presidents who have ties to the Odebrecht corruption scandal, which means that almost all of the country’s live past leaders—a nation of more than 33 million—are currently either being tried or are the subject of an investigation.

Ollanta Humala, a former president, is presently in court facing accusations that he and his wife accepted more than $3 million from Odebrecht for his presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2011. Both have said they did nothing wrong.

Former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned in 2018, is being held under house arrest on related allegations.

Alan Garcia, who served as president from 2006 to 2011, shot himself in the head in 2019 as police were en route to his house to take him into custody.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES