Former president Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for collusion and money laundering in the context of the Odebrecht case, made public this Monday a new figure related to the bribes that led to his conviction in October 2024.
During an appeal hearing at the First Criminal Appeals Chamber of the National Superior Court of Justice, the former president also suggested that he sees his death as near due to a cancer he suffers from, a diagnosis he revealed after his extradition from the United States.
“I don’t know how many more days I have to live. You possibly already know from the documents that have been submitted to you and the Supreme Court,” he expressed before the judge, who granted him the floor at the close of the session.
Toledo maintained that the figure related to the case is not 25 or 35 million dollars, but rather “45 million,” and claimed to have identified, along with his defense, the “true owner of that money,” a version with which he seeks to overturn his sentence. During the appeal hearing, Toledo pointed out that he suffers from cancer and stated that he feels his death is near, requesting that the person responsible for the bank account in Switzerland where the money is allegedly located be summoned.
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Despite this revelation, the Judiciary determined during the trial that the former ruler conspired with Odebrecht so that, in exchange for the bribe, the construction company would obtain the tender to build sections 2 and 3 of the road system that connects Peru and Brazil.
According to the verdict, Toledo convinced his friend Josef Maiman to act as an intermediary and receive the illicit payments through companies created for that purpose. Even after leaving the presidency, he continued to contact the former director of Odebrecht in Peru, Jorge Barata, to demand the payment of bribes.
The former head of state now stated that the funds are located at the LGT Bank in Zurich, one of Switzerland’s main financial centers.
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“Thank God, we have had access to the document where it says who has the origin, the route, and the final destination, and the name of the person (…) it is forty-two million in dollars and three million in euros (…) The money is in Zurich (…) We have the name of the person in charge of the account, the president of the bank, and we need to invite him to come and testify,” he stated.
“I ask you, please, your honor, to accept my request to formally ask through international cooperation for the person in charge of the account, who is Mr. Urs Fidel Frick, from the LGT Bank in Zurich, to come,” he added, insisting that his defense would cover the necessary expenses to obtain that testimony.
The former president maintained that he knows the identity of the true owner of the funds involved and requested international cooperation so that the president of the LGT Bank of Zurich testifies before the justice system
The magistrate replied that, as long as “the formal request does not arrive,” he cannot issue a pronouncement, and recommended that he coordinate the matter with his legal defense. “We listen to the parties and everything they request through their lawyers, the collegiate body debates it and gives an answer,” he pointed out.
The former president also attempted to discredit the accusation that, during his administration, he held irregular or secret meetings with businessmen and officials to direct the concession.
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“President Toledo never met, never bought investment. He didn’t meet because there was an advisory board. And when it is recorded that they enter the Palace, it is true that they enter, but behind the Council of Ministers room, that is where they met, the ministers took the opportunity to meet with the members of Proinversión (Private Investment Promotion Agency),” he said.
Toledo was the first former Peruvian president convicted in the Odebrecht mega-corruption case. In September 2025, he received a second sentence, this time of 13 years and four months in prison for aggravated money laundering in the Ecoteva case, which refers to the purchase of real estate and the payment of a mortgage with money whose legal origin he has been unable to prove.
