Former Peruvian President faces jail for graft

Lima, Feb 8: Peru’s Public Ministry has called for a preventive prison sentence against former President Alejandro Toledo over alleged corruption charges, a media report said on Wednesday.

The Ministry took the decision on Tuesday after beginning its investigation on Monday against Toledo for allegedly using his influence in a money laundering case, Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement was made after a search of his house.

According to Hamilton Castro, Peru’s anti-corruption prosecutor, the authorities also began investigations against Josef Maiman, a businessman and close friend of Toledo, as well as Jorge Barata, a former executive for Odebrecht Latinvest in Peru. Barata paid Toledo $20 million through offshore accounts in Andorra and $11 million was found on accounts belonging to Maiman in Britain, according to the statement.

These illicit payments were suspected to be linked to the contract for the Interoceanic highway linking Peru with Brazil, which was awarded to Odebrecht and other Brazilian construction firms. (IANS)