Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been extradited to his home country from the United States on corruption charges. Police in the South American country tweeted a photo of the 77-year-old man at Lima’s international airport after his arrival from Los Angeles. It shows Toledo surrounded by Police Chief Jorge Ángulo and other officers. After an identity confirmation appointment in court, he was remanded to prison for 18 months.
The authorities of the Andean country issued an arrest warrant against Toledo in 2017 and requested his extradition. The former head of state and government (2001-2006) is accused of having accepted a bribe of 20 million US dollars (around 18 million euros) from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for the construction of the Interoceánica highway between the Atlantic and the Pacific. If convicted, he faces 20 years in prison. Toledo denies the allegations. He turned himself in to US authorities and appeared in court in San Jose, California on Friday.
The Odebrecht affair is considered the biggest corruption scandal in Latin America. According to estimates by the US judiciary, the group paid around 785 million dollars (734 million euros) in bribes in twelve countries. Construction projects often ended up being more expensive than planned. The section of the Interoceánica in Peru ended up costing 2.1 billion US dollars instead of the planned 850 million.
