A court in Peru has sentenced former President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison. They were found guilty of money laundering after taking illegal money from the Brazilian company Odebrecht and the Venezuelan government to help pay for Humala’s presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2011.
Humala, who is 62 years old, was taken to jail right after the court gave the verdict. His lawyers say they will appeal the decision. Nadine Heredia did not go to court for the verdict. Instead, she went to the Brazilian embassy in Lima and asked for asylum. The Peruvian government later confirmed that she and her son were allowed to go to Brazil safely.
This is a big moment in the Odebrecht scandal, which has already involved four former presidents of Peru. Humala is the first one to go on trial. Prosecutors said he and his wife took $3 million from Odebrecht for the 2011 campaign and $200,000 from Venezuela’s former president Hugo Chavez for the 2006 campaign. Heredia was also guilty of hiding property deals that were linked to this illegal money.
Both Humala and Heredia have always said they are innocent. In court, Humala said the case was politically motivated and that he will keep fighting to prove he did nothing wrong.
The Odebrecht scandal is one of the biggest corruption cases in recent history. In 2016, the company admitted to paying more than $788 million in bribes in several countries. In Peru, they paid at least $29 million to government officials between 2005 and 2014 to win big contracts.
This scandal has caused a major crisis in Peru’s politics. Former President Alan Garcia died by suicide in 2019 when police tried to arrest him. Alejandro Toledo, president from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced last year to over 20 years in jail for bribes. Another ex-president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, is still under investigation.
Keiko Fujimori, who lost to Humala in the 2011 election, also spent 16 months in jail before trial because of suspected ties to Odebrecht. This shows just how deeply the scandal has affected Peru’s leaders.
