Peruvian court sentenced former President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for participating in a far-reaching corruption scandal tied to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. The couple was found guilty of money laundering for accepting illegal donations from Odd Brecht and the Venezuelan governments to fund Humala’s 2006 and 2011 presidential elections.
Humala, 62, was immediately detained and transported to police custody after the verdict. His legal team expressed intention to raise a conviction. Judge Nayko Coronado, who made the ruling, also issued a warrant for Heredia, who did not participate in the sentencing, but instead sought asylum in Brazil in the embassy of Lima. After diplomatic discussions, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that she and her son were granted a secure access to Brazil.
The ruling marked a significant development in the Oddbrecht scandal, which involved four former Peruvian presidents. Humala is a former Army officer who was the first to be tried from 2011 to 2016. Prosecutors sentenced Humala to 20 years in prison and Heredia to 26 years, accusing them of accepting $3 million of illegal funds from Odebrecht to participate in the 2011 campaign, and then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez received another $200,000 to obtain a failed 2006 bid. It was also found that Heredia was convicted of hiding real estate transactions related to illegal funds.
Both Humala and Heredia have been denying the charges. During the hearing, Humala insisted that the verdict was politically motivated and vowed to continue the legal struggle to clear his name.
The Odebrecht scandal is considered one of the largest foreign bribery cases in modern history. In 2016, the company admitted to paying Peruvian officials more than $788 million in bribes between 2005 and 2014, including at least $29 million in secret officials to secure public contracts.
The consequences of the scandal have shaken Peru’s political system. Former President Alan Garcia died of suicide in 2019 and police arrested him. Alejandro Toledo, who ruled from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison last year for accepting bribes. An investigation by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from 2016 to 2018 is still underway.
Keiko Fujimori, who lost runoff to Humala in 2011, also spent 16 months in trial detention on alleged ties to Odebrecht, highlighting the widespread influence of the scandal in Peru’s political sphere.
