Cops from Peru travelling to US to arrest Alejandro Toledo, who been living there over a decade

Peruvian police are reportedly closing in on ex-President Alejandro Toledo, who has been linked to the Odebrecht’s corruption saga which has landed dozens of Latin American politicians behind bars.

Toledo appears to be next in line as Peruvian police officers are expected to land soon in San Francisco, California to arrest him. Toledo has been living in the US for over a decade while being accused of bribery and other crimes back in Peru.

If found guilty, Toledo could face up to 20 years in prison. The Odebrecht case represents one of the largest transnational bribery schemes ever uncovered in Latin America in which at least 10 countries were involved – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

Odebrecht, a Brazilian company dedicated to multiple industries in Brazil and abroad, including construction, energy and real estate, paid at least US$788 million in bribes to obtain multi-million dollar contracts from state-owned companies between 2001 and 2016. Peruvian authorities claim that the US State Department gave its consent to extradite Toledo.

Toledo fighting extradition

However, US media reports indictate that a San Francisco court will issue its ruling on the extradition in the second week of March.

Toledo is fiercely opposing extradition, arguing that the bribery charges are “politically motivated”.

The key witness, Israeli-Peruvian businessman Josef Maiman, has testified against the Peruvian ex-president. Odebrecht has already admitted to bribery payments.

Toledo joins a long list of former Peruvian presidents accused or already convicted of being involved in corrupt practices. Former Pesident Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) is also under investigation for alleged money laundering. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018), Martin Vizcarra (2018-2020) and Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) are being investigated too.

Former President Alan Garcia (2006-2011), another fallen politician linked to the Odebrecht scandal, killed himself in 2019 before being arrested.