By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-22 02:43:39 | Updated at 2024-10-22 05:43:05
3 hours ago
A Peruvian court on Monday sentenced former president Alejandro Toledo to more than 20 years in prison for accepting multi-million-dollar bribes from scandal-hit Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
The Superior Court accepted the prison term recommended by the prosecution, it announced at a hearing attended by the 78-year-old, who led the South American nation from 2001 to 2006.
Toledo, a US-trained economist with a doctorate from Stanford University, maintained he was innocent and asked for leniency, saying he has cancer and heart problems.
“I want to go to a private clinic. I ask you please to let me get better or die at home,” he said at a hearing last week.
Toledo appeared calm in court as he was found guilty of collusion and money laundering for having received US$35 million from Odebrecht.
