Peru’s Ex-President Ollanta Humala Sentenced to 15 Years for Money Laundering in Odebrecht Scandal

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of money laundering offences tied to the sprawling corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, now known as Novonor. The verdict makes Humala the latest in a line of Peruvian leaders to end up behind bars on corruption-related charges.

Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were accused of illegally receiving funds from Odebrecht during his successful 2011 presidential campaign. Heredia was also handed a 15-year prison sentence by the court. Following the verdict, Peru’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Heredia sought asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Lima and was granted diplomatic protection for herself and their youngest son.

According to Brazilian attorney Marco Aurelio de Carvalho, who represents Humala in Brazil, Heredia suffers from cancer and had earlier requested permission to travel to Brazil for treatment. That request was reportedly denied. The Peruvian government has stated it will provide safe-passage and guarantees to facilitate the transfer of Heredia and her son.

Humala, a former army officer who governed Peru from 2011 to 2016, is expected to serve his sentence at a specialized police facility built to detain former heads of state. The site currently holds former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo. Alberto Fujimori, who also served time there, was released in 2023.

The trial against Humala, which spanned three years following the start of the investigation in 2016, culminated in a conviction that he insists is politically motivated. Throughout the proceedings, Humala claimed the charges amounted to persecution.

Prosecutors argued that the illicit funds were funneled through Humala’s Nationalist Party to fuel his 2011 campaign against rival Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of ex-president Alberto Fujimori. According to prosecutors, the funds came directly from Odebrecht as part of a wider effort by the company to influence Latin American politics through bribes and illegal campaign financing.

Despite the immediate enforcement of the sentence, Humala retains the right to appeal. His attorney, Wilfredo Pedraza, criticized the ruling as disproportionate. “The sentence is excessive,” Pedraza said, adding that prosecutors “failed to prove the illegal origin of the funds.” He confirmed that the defense would file an appeal once the court’s final decision is delivered on April 29.

Odebrecht, which changed its name to Novonor in 2020 amid mounting scandals, once stood as one of the largest construction firms in Latin America. It has admitted to widespread corruption, paying bribes across the region to secure contracts and expand its operations. The company is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Humala becomes the second Peruvian ex-president to be jailed and the fourth implicated in the wide-reaching Lava Jato investigation. In 2019, former President Alan Garcia fatally shot himself as authorities moved to arrest him for his alleged role in the Odebrecht affair. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in 2018 after just two years in office due to his own involvement in the scandal. Last year, Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to 20 years in prison after reportedly receiving $35 million in bribes in exchange for public contracts.

Executives from Odebrecht have testified in Peruvian court that the company financed nearly every presidential candidate in Peru over a span of almost three decades.

By fLEXI tEAM