Peru judge orders arrest of ex-president in corruption case
LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of former President Alejandro Toledo on suspicion of taking bribes from a Brazilian construction company at the heart of a region-wide corruption scandal.
Judge Richard Concepcion accepted prosecutors’ request Toledo be jailed for up to 18 months as they investigate allegations he received $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for permission to build a highway connecting Brazil with the Peruvian coast.
Toledo, who was president from 2001-2006, has denied any wrongdoing. He is believed to be abroad. He was in Paris for a meeting earlier in the week and is a visiting scholar at Stanford University in California.
The judge said a red alert had been sent to the international police agency Interpol for his arrest “wherever he is.”