Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering related to the far-reaching Odebrecht corruption scandal, making him the third former president of Peru to be convicted in connection with the Brazilian construction giant.
A Lima court found that Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, received several million dollars in illicit campaign contributions from Odebrecht as well as from Venezuela’s then-President Hugo Chávez, which funded Humala’s 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns. Heredia, who co-founded the Peruvian Nationalist Party with Humala, was also sentenced to 15 years. Prosecutors had originally sought longer sentences—20 years for Humala and 26.5 years for Heredia.
The court ruled that the couple laundered approximately $3 million in funds from Odebrecht and diverted at least $200,000 from the Chávez government. Heredia was also found guilty of concealing real estate purchases made using some of the laundered funds. Humala, who attended the hearing in person, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict. The court also ordered the arrest of Heredia, who appeared via video link.
Humala, a former army officer who served as president from 2011 to 2016, rose to prominence in 2000 after leading a short-lived military uprising against then-President Alberto Fujimori. By 2011, he had shifted to a platform modeled on Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and successfully defeated Keiko Fujimori in a runoff.
The Odebrecht scandal has ensnared several Peruvian leaders since 2001. Former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Alberto Fujimori are currently imprisoned, while Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is under house arrest. Alan García, another ex-president, died by suicide in 2019 as authorities moved to arrest him. Prosecutors in Humala’s case argued that such large-scale bribery “seriously undermined democratic institutions and public trust.”
The three-year trial concluded after extended investigations that began in 2015, a year before Odebrecht publicly admitted to paying bribes across Latin America. Humala’s legal team has stated they will appeal the sentence.
