Peru: Ministers approve extradition requests for former President Toledo, wife

Photo: EFE

00:31 | Lima, Apr. 22.

The Council of Ministers on Wednesday approved the petitions for extradition from the United States of former President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) and former First Lady Eliane Karp so that they be tried in Peruvian territory, Justice and Human Rights Minister Eduardo Vega has reported.

During a press conference, the high-ranking official indicated that this second extradition request is related to

the case known as Ecoteva on the alleged commission of money laundering crimes.

"This government, complying with the corresponding procedures, enabled and moved the entire extradition proceedings forward; today, the Council of Ministers approved these two extradition requests (involving Alejandro Toledo and Eliane Karp) that will be sent to the Attorney General's Office, so that they continue with the corresponding proceedings and send them (the documents) to the United States," he told reporters.

In this sense, the Cabinet member specified that this would be the second request against Toledo, who is currently under house arrest in the U.S. State of California, being the first over the Odebrecht case in 2018.

"This case, which has been approved today, has to do with the Ecoteva case and has to do with an accusation of money laundering based on an investigation carried out by the Judicial Branch detecting the route of money in offshore accounts in Panama and Costa Rica, which then arrived in Peru to make real estate acquisitions. In March 2020, it was decided to present the extradition request," he expressed.

Vega added that this new extradition request "will strengthen the causes of the Peruvian State against Toledo."

On April 15, U.S. Judge Thomas Hixson warned Toledo that he would advance the extradition trial if the infractions and lies by the former president continue.

In a virtual hearing, Hixson reproached Toledo for having breached the conditions of his house arrest in California —for the third time— and what —in his opinion— is even more serious: that he has lied to authorities again, which generates distrust and is highly worrying to the magistrate.

Ecoteva case

The Peruvian Prosecutor's Office accuses Toledo of having favored Odebrecht in the bidding for stretches 2 and 3 of the Interoceanic Highway in exchange for the payment of bribes.

That money allegedly served to establish offshore companies in Costa Rica. Among them was the Ecoteva Consulting Group, owned by Toledo's mother-in-law Eva Fernenbug.

In 2013, Ecoteva acquired a property in Lima valued at US$3.8 million in the exclusive Las Casuarinas neighborhood and an office in the Omega building valued at US$882,000.

It also paid off the mortgages on Alejandro Toledo's homes in the capital city's upper-class Camacho neighborhood (US$217,000) and in Tumbes region's Punta Sal beach area (US$277,000).

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Published: 4/22/2021