Former Peruvian Leader Gets 15 Years in Prison Over Money Laundering Scandal

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia have been sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering connected to the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal, while Heredia has fled to the Brazilian embassy seeking asylum.

Key Insights

Humala and Heredia were found guilty of accepting $3 million from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and $200,000 from former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for presidential campaigns.
The case is part of the broader Odebrecht scandal, which admitted to paying over $29 million in bribes to Peruvian politicians between 2005 and 2016.
Nadine Heredia has been granted asylum by Brazil after fleeing to their embassy with her son before her arrest warrant could be carried out.
Humala joins a growing list of former Peruvian presidents who have faced scrutiny for corruption, making him the third imprisoned for Odebrecht-related crimes in the last two decades.

Latin American Corruption Exposed

The Peruvian judiciary has delivered a strong message against high-level corruption by sentencing former President Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia to 15 years in prison for money laundering. The court found the couple guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions from the Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht and from Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez. The verdict represents one of the most significant corruption convictions in Peru’s ongoing efforts to address the widespread influence of Odebrecht’s bribery network.

According to prosecutors, Humala and Heredia received approximately $3 million from Odebrecht to finance Humala’s successful 2011 presidential campaign and around $200,000 from Chavez for his unsuccessful 2006 campaign. Beyond these campaign funds, the couple was also convicted of concealing real estate purchases made with illicit money. The court ordered their immediate imprisonment following the Tuesday verdict, with police escorting the 62-year-old former president from the courtroom.

Peru jails ex-president Humala for 15 years over money laundering https://t.co/1Rcdibn6ch pic.twitter.com/LxAxPZ7t1U

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 16, 2025

Presidential Asylum and Appeals

While Humala was taken into custody and transferred to Barbadillo prison, where other former Peruvian presidents are also incarcerated, his wife successfully evaded arrest by seeking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Lima. Brazil has granted Heredia asylum under the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, a move that Peru has acknowledged it will respect for both Heredia and her son.

Humala’s legal team has already announced plans to appeal the conviction, with his lawyer describing the 15-year sentence as “excessive.” The former president and his wife maintain that they are victims of political persecution rather than legitimate criminal prosecution. The appeals process is likely to extend the legal battle, which has already been ongoing since initial investigations began in 2015, with the trial officially starting in 2022.

Pattern of Presidential Corruption

Humala’s conviction is far from an isolated case in Peru’s recent political landscape. He becomes the third former Peruvian president imprisoned for corruption in the last two decades, joining Alejandro Toledo and Alberto Fujimori. Toledo was sentenced to over 20 years for accepting bribes from Odebrecht. The corruption web has ensnared nearly all of Peru’s presidents since 2001, with former President Alan García dying by suicide in 2019 before he could be arrested on bribery allegations.

The Odebrecht scandal represents one of the largest corruption networks ever uncovered in Latin America. The company admitted to paying approximately $800 million in bribes across multiple countries to secure lucrative government contracts. In Peru alone, Odebrecht acknowledged paying over $29 million in bribes between 2005 and 2016. The investigation has also implicated numerous other Peruvian political figures, including opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, former governors, and other high-ranking officials.

Humala’s Political Journey

Humala’s path to the presidency began with his military career and gained momentum in 2000. After losing the 2006 presidential race to Alan García, he successfully won the 2011 election by adopting a more moderate political platform inspired by Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Humala managed to defeat Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the former president he had once rebelled against.

During his presidency from 2011 to 2016, Humala’s popularity steadily declined due to his handling of social conflicts and economic issues. His legal troubles began shortly after leaving office, when Odebrecht admitted to its extensive bribery network in 2016. The investigation revealed that in addition to his brother Ilán Heredia, who received a 12-year sentence in the same case, numerous individuals close to Humala were involved in the money laundering scheme that helped finance his rise to power.