Peru court sentences ex-president Humala and wife to 15 years for money laundering
Judges found that the leader received several million dollars in illegal campaign contributions from construction giant Odebrecht
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 US$3 million in illegal contributions for these campaigns from Odebrecht and the government of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (1999-2013).
Humala’s wife requested asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima, Peru’s Foreign Ministry said on 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.
