Peru’s former president, Ollanta Humala, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a money laundering case. A court in the capital, Lima, found him guilty of accepting illegal funds from the Venezuelan government and from a Brazilian construction company to bankroll his election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. His wife, Nadine Heredia, was also found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to 15 years in jail. However, she has been granted safe passage to Brazil after seeking asylum in the Brazilian embassy. Meanwhile, Humala’s lawyer said he will appeal against the conviction.
His wife, Nadine Heredia, was also handed a 15-year sentence after being found guilty of participating in the same money laundering scheme. However, Heredia was not present in court during sentencing. She had already entered the Brazilian embassy in Lima with the couple’s son, avoiding immediate arrest.
Brazil has granted Heredia asylum, and the Peruvian government has agreed to provide safe passage in line with the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum. Humala’s lawyer stated that the former president would appeal the conviction.
The former president, 62, was meanwhile taken to Barbadillo prison, where two other former leaders, Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo, are already being held. Humala was the first Peruvian president to be investigated in connection with the Odebrecht scandal.
Toledo, who governed from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced last year to more than 20 years in prison for taking $35m (£26m) in bribes from the company. Alan García, president from 1985 to 1990 and 2006 to 2011, killed himself in 2019 as he faced imminent arrest over allegations he was bribed by Odebrecht. He denied the accusations.