US court says Alejandro Toledo must surrender to authorities and face corruption charges in his home country
Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo must surrender to US authorities for extradition to his home country to face corruption charges, a judge in California ruled.
Toledo must turn himself in by Friday and be jailed until he’s handed over to Peruvian authorities, Judge Thomas Hixson ruled.
The judge’s ruling came after Toledo’s final effort to put his extradition on hold at a federal appeals court, which earlier on Wednesday refused his second such request. Toledo’s lawyers told the US Attorney in San Francisco they planned to appeal further to a full panel of the court, but Hixson wasn’t convinced that would be successful.
“Its second denial is a published order fully analysing Toledo’s arguments on appeal and concluding that he has not shown a likelihood of success,” Hixson wrote in his ruling, referencing the decision by a three-judge panel of 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. “This court has no expectation that any further stay orders are forthcoming.”
Toledo, who lives in California, is wanted in Peru on allegations of negotiating bribes with the Brazilian conglomerate then known as Odebrecht when he was president from 2001 to 2006. The allegations are part of a sprawling web of graft that became known as Car Wash, involving Odebrecht’s operations in much of Latin America.
“Once Toledo is in custody, the US will arrange to execute his surrender to Peruvian authorities expeditiously thereafter,” Ismail Ramsey, the US Attorney in San Francisco, wrote in an earlier filing.
A US judge had cleared Toledo’s extradition in September 2021 and the State Department granted Peru’s extradition request in February.
Source: Business Live
