According to the revelation of a local television station, Toledo, imprisoned for receiving a bribe of 32 million dollars from the Odebrecht company, confessed to the Prosecutor’s Office that Kuczynski, who was Minister of Economy of his government (2001-06), introduced into his office executives of that company Marcelo Odebrecht and Jorge Barata.

The statement was confidential and was made within the framework of the preliminary phase of the process against Kuczynski for improper business with Odebrecht through his financial companies based in the United States, for which a prosecutor is asking for 35 years in prison for the businessman and politician aged 85 years.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Toledo agreed with Barata on the aforementioned bribe in exchange for the construction contract for the Interoceanic highway, between the southern Peruvian coast and the Amazonian border with Brazil.

The same source pointed out that Toledo also declared that Kuczynski, while he was minister, had the investment rating agency Proinversión under his control, which was in charge of awarding the work for which Toledo received the bribe.

He also denied knowing the activity of the Kuczynski companies that provided financial advisory services to Odebrecht for 12 million dollars, to obtain and present financing for the Interoceanic highway in the presentation of his proposal in the bidding for the work.

Kuczynski has been outside the Toledo process, despite the charges he held in that government and his defense maintains that Kuczynski was licensed by his companies when they dealt with Odebrecht and that he did not know about these deals.

Those who doubt this argument point out that in Peru the so-called “revolving door” is a frequent practice, that is, the transit of officials, back and forth and vice versa, between the private and state sectors, which Kuczynski has done for many years.

Such a practice grants the benefit of accessing, at least, privileged information, which is why it is limited by restrictive regulations that for many do not solve the problem.

The case of the business of the Kuczynski companies with Odebrecht for the Interoceanic and other infrastructure projects was discovered during his brief government (2016-18) and generated a crisis that forced the resignation of the ruler, today prosecuted and that persists until the present.

ef/rgh/mrs