The former president of Peru Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020) has been sentenced this Wednesday to 14 years in prison for him bribery crime own passive.
The court in charge of the trial has considered that he received more than 2.3 million soles (about $700,000) when he was governor of the southern region of Moquegua (2011-2014), before becoming head of state.
The president of the Fourth National Collegiate Criminal Court, Fernanda Ayasta, declared it proven that Vizcarra proposed and received a bribe of one million soles from the Obrainsa company to award the project agricultural Lomas de Ilo in 2013.
Likewise, Vizcarra also received more than 1.3 million soles in cash from the ICCGSA company to develop the improvement of the Moquegua Hospitalaccording to the statements of the witnesses called by the Prosecutor’s Office and whose testimonies, according to the court, have been accredited.
The judge stressed that Vizcarra committed “illicit acts” taking advantage of his position as regional governor, by delivering the contracts “in exchange for money.”
Corruption scandals
During the trial, which began last October, Vizcarra denied the chargesclaiming to be a victim of political persecution. He came to power in 2018 after his predecessor resigned and was removed two years later by Congress amid corruption investigations.
They are older brotherMario Vizcarra, plans to run in the presidential elections April 2026 by the Primero Perú party, where the former president serves as a key advisor.
In the 2021 elections, Vizcarra obtained the highest number of votes of any congressional candidate, but then Congress banned him from holding public office for 10 years for dissolving the legislature in 2019.
Peru has been plunged into a political agitation, with six presidents in power since 2018 due to lawsuits and resignations often driven by corruption scandals.
Three other former presidents are also in prison. Alejandro Toledo and Ollanta Humala are serving sentences for corruption, while Pedro Castillo is detained for rebellion.