A Peruvian court has sentenced former President Alejandro Toledo to 13 years and four months in prison for money laundering, marking his second conviction in connection with widespread corruption. Toledo, 79, was found guilty of using $5.1 million in bribe money from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to acquire high-value real estate in Lima.
According to prosecutors, Toledo and his wife funneled the illicit funds through an offshore company in Costa Rica, which was used to purchase a house and an office in an upscale Lima neighborhood, as well as pay off mortgages on two other properties. This conviction follows a sentence of 20 years and six months handed down in October 2024, when Toledo was found guilty of accepting up to $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for awarding the company lucrative public works contracts.
The sentences will be served concurrently, and Toledo will not serve more than 20 years and six months in total. Given his age, it’s unlikely he will ever regain his freedom. Toledo is currently serving his sentence at a prison on a Lima police base, where he is being held alongside three other former Peruvian presidents: Ollanta Humala, Pedro Castillo, and Martin Vizcarra.
Toledo’s background as an economist with degrees from Stanford University and the University of San Francisco adds to the shock of his downfall. The Odebrecht corruption cases, part of the wider “Car Wash” scandal, have had far-reaching implications, implicating governments across Latin America and nearly all of Peru’s presidents this century. Another former leader, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 86, is currently on trial for his alleged role in the scheme, with prosecutors seeking a 35-year prison sentence.
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