Peruvian police arrest Keiko Fujimori in Odebrecht probe

Peruvian police arrest Keiko Fujimori in Odebrecht probe
AFP

Lima (AFP) – Police in Peru have arrested Keiko Fujimori, the opposition leader and daughter of disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori, for alleged money laundering involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The 43-year-old was arrested on the orders of prosecutors investigating suspect contributions to her election campaign, her lawyer Giuliana Loza said.

The leader of Popular Force, the biggest party in Congress, Fujimori was arrested after giving evidence at the public prosecutor’s office to a judge investigating alleged party funding from Odebrecht.

She was placed in preventive detention for 10 days, said Loza, who described the arrest as “an outrage and an abuse”.

A further 19 people have been arrested in the case linked to contributions to Popular Force during Keiko Fujimori’s 2011 presidential campaign.

“She has placed herself at the disposal of the prosecutor’s office,” said Loza.

Her arrest comes a week after her 80-year-old father’s presidential pardon for crimes against humanity was revoked by a top court. 

Prosecutors have since June been investigating allegations that three former presidents took bribes disguised as campaign funds from Odebrecht, which is at the center of political scandals across Latin America.

Former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Alan Garcia and Alejandro Toledo all took undeclared campaign contributions in exchange for pledges to have the Brazilian construction giant win local tenders, prosecutors said.

Kuczynski narrowly beat Keiko Fujimori to the presidency in 2016.

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