Peru prosecutors probe ex-president Toledo in new bribe case

Published November 25, 2017

Peru's attorney general's office said it was investigating former President Alejandro Toledo for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes from the Brazilian company Camargo Correa in exchange for a highway construction contract.

Toledo, who governed from 2001 to 2006, is already wanted in Peru for allegedly taking $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht, another Brazilian construction company at the center of a continent-wide corruption scandal.

In the new case, investigators have detected a payment of at least $3.9 million that Camargo Correa made to Toledo through an offshore account scheme with the money ending up in the account of a friend of the former president, prosecutors said in a statement.

Attempts to reach Camargo Correa and Toledo for comment weren't immediately successful, but in the past the Toledo has denied taking bribes.

Peru is seeking Toledo's extradition from the U.S. for the Odebrecht case. In February, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski asked President Donald Trump to deport the ex-Peruvian president.

Toledo is a former pro-democracy activist who led street protests that brought down former strongman Alberto Fujimori in 2000.

Authorities across Latin America have been moving fast to charge officials accused of taking some $800 million in bribes from Odebrecht. The company acknowledged the bribes when it signed a plea agreement in December with the U.S. Justice Department.

Used to win business in 12 countries, the bribes include some $29 million paid in Peru for projects built during the administrations of Toledo and two of his successors. So far, three officials have been arrested.

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