Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others.
Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country.
The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in the capital, Lima, imposed the sentence after years of legal wrangling, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States.
Judge Inés Rojas said Toledo’s victims were Peruvians who “trusted” him as their president. Rojas explained that in that role, Toledo was “in charge of managing public finances” and responsible for “protecting and ensuring the correct” use of resources. Instead, she said, he “defrauded the state.”
She added that Toledo “had the duty to act with absolute neutrality, protect and preserve the assets of the state, avoiding their abuse or exploitation,” but he did not do so.
Odebrecht, which built some of Latin America’s most crucial infrastructure projects, admitted to U.S. authorities in 2016 to having bought government contracts throughout the region with generous bribes.
The investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice spun probes in several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador.
In Peru, authorities accused Toledo and three other former presidents of receiving payments from the construction giant.
They alleged Toledo received $35 million from Odebrecht in exchange for the contract to build 650 kilometers (403 miles) of a highway linking Brazil with southern Peru.
That portion of the highway was initially estimated to cost $507 million, but Peru ended up paying $1.25 billion.
Rojas at one point read parts of the testimony from Jorge Barata, a former Odebrecht executive in Peru, who told prosecutors that the former president called him up to three times after leaving office to demand that he be paid.
Toledo lowered his gaze and looked at his hands as Rojas read the expletive-laden remarks that Barata recounted to prosecutors.
Toledo has denied the accusations against him. His attorney, Roberto Siu, told reporters after the hearing that they will appeal the sentence.
