Peruvian court sentences former President Humala and wife to 15 years for money laundering

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian court on Tuesday sentenced former President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison for laundering funds received from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to finance his 2006 and 2011 campaigns.

The judges of the National Superior Court found that Humala and Heredia received almost $3 million in illegal contributions for these campaigns from Odebrecht and the government of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).

Humala’s wife requested asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima, Peru’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement, the foreign ministry added that Heredia entered the Brazilian embassy in the morning and requested asylum under the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, to which both Peru and Brazil are signatories.

Heredia’s brother, Ilán Heredia, was also sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering in the same case.

Humala came to power in 2011 after defeating right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori in the second round.

Nayko Coronado, one of the court’s three judges, ordered the convicted individuals to be jailed immediately. The former president, the only one present for the verdict, was surrounded by police and escorted from the courtroom.

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Dressed in a business suit, tie, and glasses, the 62-year-old retired military officer Humala was observed writing and speaking on his cell phone during the session. His wife was not in attendance, with the defense stating she followed the proceedings online due to ill health. The court’s decision means both will remain incarcerated until July 28, 2039.

The verdict makes Humala the third former Peruvian president imprisoned for corruption in the last two decades. He joins Alejandro Toledo, sentenced in 2024 to 20 years for Odebrecht-related crimes, and Alberto Fujimori, who received multiple convictions for corruption and human rights abuses.

The trial began in 2022, and alongside Humala and his 48-year-old wife, the court convicted eight others. Both Humala and Heredia were held in pretrial detention from 2017 to 2018 at the prosecutor’s request to prevent their flight.

Odebrecht’s 2016 admission of widespread bribery across Latin America preceded the initial investigations against Humala, which started in 2015, a year before the company’s revelations.

Most of the presidents who governed Peru since 2001 have faced legal problems due to their connections with Odebrecht. Toledo is currently imprisoned, while former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is under house arrest. Alan García, who served two non-consecutive terms (1985-1990 and 2006-2011), died by suicide in 2019 as authorities moved to arrest him in connection with Odebrecht bribes.

Beyond former presidents, prominent figures like former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori and numerous ex-governors are also under investigation.

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