US agrees to extradite ex-Peruvian president Toledo

The US State Department has agreed to extradite former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo. Peru’s Attorney General’s Office writes on Twitter. Peru has been demanding the extradition of a former president suspected of corruption since 2018.

Toledo, now 76, was arrested by US police in July 2019 at the request of Peru. In 2021, a California federal court allowed Toledo to be extradited to Peru.

His home country wants to prosecute him for possible involvement in a bribery scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. But the final decision on extradition rested with the US government – which it would have now conceded. The US has yet to confirm this.

The Peruvian attorney general tells Reuters news agency that there is no agreement yet on the extradition date – negotiations are ongoing with the United States and the international police organization Interpol. A judge in Peru has demanded a prison sentence of more than twenty years against him.

Toledo reportedly accepted about $20 million from the construction company in exchange for permission to build a road from Brazil to the Peruvian coast. Toledo, who served as president from 2001 to 2006, has always denied the allegations.