Peru’s former president Ollanta Humala has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for money laundering.
His wife Nadine Heredia received the same punishment, but she has been granted asylum after entering the Brazilian embassy in Lima.
The couple were found guilty of receiving $3m (£2.3m) in illegal contributions from a Brazilian construction firm called Odebrecht.
That cash was used to finance Humala’s presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2011, with his lawyer describing the sentence as “excessive”.
Odebrecht previously admitted it had doled out bribes to governments across Latin America to build a vast empire, and it is currently going through bankruptcy.
Humala, a 62-year-old retired military officer, was jailed immediately – and the National Superior Court’s verdict means he will be behind bars until 2039.
He is the third former Peruvian president to be imprisoned for corruption in the past two decades.
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Alejandro Toledo received a 20-year jail term in 2024 after receiving $35m (£26m) in bribes in exchange for public works contracts.
A police base has been specially built to accommodate the country’s jailed leaders – and it is likely Humala will serve his sentence there alongside Toledo.
His lawyers have vowed to appeal once the final ruling is issued later this month, and argue prosecutors failed to prove that the funds had come from an illegal source.
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In 2019, former president Alan Garcia shot himself as police descended on his home to make an arrest – also for alleged corruption related to Odebrecht.
Former executives said the company had financed almost all presidential candidates in Peru for close to 30 years.
Fernando Quintalla, a resident who lives in Lima, said he was “totally displeased” that Humala’s wife had been granted asylum.
He added: “I believe that the Peruvian population is really upset, extremely upset, with this string of (various) presidents – who since 2000 until now – have been plaguing us with an incredible corruption that has never been seen before in the country.”
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