The former Peruvian president Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years in prison for the crime of money laundering.
The ruling, issued by the National Superior Court, marks a new chapter in the fight against corruption in the country, where several ex -presidents have faced judicial processes for similar crimes.
The sentence arrives after an extensive judicial process that lasted for more than three years and an investigation that began in 2016.
The Court found Humala and Heredia guilty of having received illicit contributions from the powerful Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, currently known as Novonor, and the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez to finance their electoral campaigns of 2006 and 2011.
Judge Nayko Coronado, president of the Court, said that the defendants “agreed money from illicit origin” and that the funds received were legitimized by fraudulent mechanisms, thus constituting the crime of aggravated money laundering.
Details of the condemnation
The conviction imposed on Humala and Heredia is 15 years in effective prison for each one. In addition, the court ordered the immediate capture of both. Humala, who was present at the hearing, was escorted by the police and transferred to a jail of the Judiciary waiting for the prison where his conviction will be defined.
It is expected to be held in a special police base for ex -president, where Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo are already located.
Nadine Heredia, on the other hand, did not attend the reading of the sentence and the court issued an order of capture against him. The former Lady is a refugee at the Brazilian embassy in Lima, waiting for an response to her request for international protection.
The court ruling also includes a civil reparation of 10 million soles (approximately 2.7 million dollars) that both must pay the Peruvian State.
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The role of Odebrecht and Venezuela
Fiscal investigation determined that Humala and Heredia received several million dollars in illegal contributions. In the 2011 campaign, the construction company Odebrecht would have delivered about 3 million dollars to the Peruvian Nationalist Party, led by Humala, to finance its presidential candidacy.
Judge Coronado stressed that during the process hundreds of alleged contributors were presented to the campaign, but at least 112 of them denied before the electoral authority having made such contributions, which evidenced the falsehood of the records and the existence of funds of illicit origin.
A case of political persecution, denounces Humala
Ollanta Humala, a 62 -year -old retired military who ruled Peru between 2011 and 2016, denied the accusations throughout the process and described the trial a “political persecution.”
His lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, considered the condemnation “an excess” and announced that they will appeal the ruling once the complete sentence is known, scheduled for April 29.
The defense argued that the illicit origin of the money has not been demonstrated and that, in any case, if Odebrecht sent funds to Lima, they would have been stolen by the then head of the company in Peru, Jorge Barata, and not delivered to the Humala campaign.
The sentence against Humala and Heredia is the second that is issued in Peru against a former president linked to the Lava Jato case after Alejandro Toledo was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years in prison for receiving Odebrecht bribes in exchange for public works.
The Odebrecht case has shaken Peruvian politics during the last decade, involving four former presidents: Alejandro Toledo, Alan García, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Humala himself.
For his part, Alan García committed suicide in 2019 when the police arrived at his home to arrest him for corruption investigations.
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 86, resigned in 2018 cornered by the investigations. Alejandro Toledo complies with a sentence in the same police base where Humala will be held.
The condemnation of Humala and Heredia could sit a precedent for other ongoing processes, such as the one facing Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who has been a presidential candidate three times and is also investigated for money laundering related to Odebrecht contributions.
The impact of the Lava Jato case
Odebrecht, who was one of the construction giants in Latin America, admitted to having paid bribes in several countries in the region. In Peru, its managers confessed to having financed the campaigns of almost all presidential candidates in the last three decades, which has generated a crisis of trust in the political class and put in check the democratic institutionality of the country.
The crowned judge stressed that the process against Humala and Heredia demonstrated the existence of a criminal organization that operated to legitimize funds of illicit origin, using mechanisms such as the simulation of contributions and the falsification of records before the electoral authorities.
Next steps
The court announced that the complete reading of the sentence will be held on April 29. As of that date, the defense of Humala and Heredia may present an appeal. Meanwhile, both will remain arrested already willing the National Penitentiary Institute, which will define the place of seclusion.
The conviction has been received with reactions divided into public opinion. For some, it represents an advance in the fight against impunity and corruption; For others, it is a reflection of the politicization of justice in the South American country. Its president, Dina Boluarte, is also investigated for justice.
The president is accused of alleged illicit enrichment, of a state violence that left dozens of dead and injured and an alleged crime of improper passive bribery and omission of functions.
