Peru's ex-President Toledo to be extradited from the US

Alejandro Toledo, the former president of Peru, surrendered to US authorities on Friday to face extradition back to Peru where he is being investigated for corruption.

The 77-year-old will be held in the same facility as two other former Peruvian presidents — right-winger Alberto Fujimori and leftist Pedro Castillo who was only ousted last year.

Toledo served as president between 2001 and 2006. Prosecutors say he accepted $35 million (€31.5 million) from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for public contracts.

Why was Toledo in the US?

The former president moved to the US after finishing his term in office and began giving classes at Stanford University in California.

Peru issued an arrest warrant for Toledo in 2017 which was carried out by US authorities first in 2019.

But Toledo was then released on bail the following year. Friday's arrest comes after a protracted legal process and a last-minute attempt to block his extradition on Thursday.

Toledo has denied the corruption charges against him. His lawyer, David Bowker, said the former president was "profoundly saddened and disappointed" by the decision of a US federal judge to deny his bid to block the extradition, and called the investigation a "political prosecution."

Peruvian presidents under investigation

Most of Peru's presidents from the past 30 years have faced accusations of corruption or other abuses of power.

Alberto Fujimori, who governed for 10 years between 1990 and 2000, is currently serving a 25-year sentence after having been found guilty of committing human rights abuses.

Pedro Castillo, who was elected as president in 2021, was impeached last December after trying to dissolve Congress and is now in pre-trial detention.

Three other former presidents have also been accused of being involved in the Odebrecht bribery case — Ollanta Humala, Alan Garcia, who took his own life in 2019, and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski who was released from house arrest following an investigation.

The US Justice Department has accused the Brazilian construction giant of paying almost $800 million in bribes to individuals in 12 countries.

Toledo's former Vice President David Waisman told Reuters that the former president's detention would likely see him giving information about others involved in the scandal.

"I'm sure he's going to rat out the people involved in an effort to get his prison term shortened," Waisman said.

ab/dj (Reuters, dpa)