A Peruvian court has sentenced former President Ollanta Humala to 15 years in prison for money l@undering linked to the massive Odebrecht corr¥ption scandal. His wife, Nadine Heredia, received the same sentence.
The court found the couple guilty of accepting $3 million in illicit campaign contributions from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and an additional $200,000 from Venezuela’s former president Hugo Chávez during Humala’s 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns.
Humala, who governed Peru from 2011 to 2016, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict and jailed at a police facility. His lawyers plan to appeal the conviction. Meanwhile, Heredia—who was absent from the hearing—sought asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima and was later granted safe passage to travel there with her son.
This marks the latest chapter in a sweeping probe that has implicated several former Peruvian presidents. Alan García d+ed by ending it all in 2019 during his arrest, Alejandro Toledo was sentenced last year to over 20 years in prison, and investigations continue into Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Prosecutors had initially sought 20 years for Humala and 26 years for Heredia. The couple was also accused of using the illegal f¥nds to make hidden real estate purchases.
Odebrecht, which admitted to paying nearly $800 million in bribes across Latin America, paid a $3.5 billion fine in 2016 and acknowledged funneling at least $29 million to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014.
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