PPK: Judicial Power Orders Impediment to Leave the Country for 2 and a Half Years

On Tuesday, Judge Víctor Zúñiga Urday ordered a 30-month impediment to leave the country against former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) as part of the investigation that is being followed by the crimes of money laundering, procedural fraud and false reporting for alleged illicit financing in its 2016 election campaign.

The measure was also taken against Alfonso Grados Carraro, Carlos Portocarrero Mendoza (former secretary of legal personality of the Peruanos por Kambio party), José Labán Ghiorzo (former treasurer) and Carlos Prialé Marquina. All are investigated for the crime of money laundering and others, for alleged irregularities in contributions to the party's campaign that led PPK to the presidency in 2016, although its term of office did not end.

Judge Zúñiga considered that “there is a procedural danger determined by the seriousness of the penalty expected in this process, the magnitude of the damage caused and specifically there is a certain danger of obstruction”.

The Judiciary also issued additional restrictions against PPK and the others under investigation such as: not being absent from the place of residence; not communicating, directly or indirectly, with witnesses, experts or co-investigates; reporting promptly to the tax office or the Preparatory Investigation Court when required; and being accountable for the activities to the Court on the first working day of each month.

INVESTIGATION AGAINST PPK

The investigation against PPK began after, in December 2018, five citizens who appear as contributors of a total of S/161,647 to Peruvians for the Kambio, in the 2016 presidential campaign denied having given any money.

In addition, an aspiring effective collaborator revealed to prosecutor Germán Juárez that a company that was part of the “Construction Club”, which was awarded works in exchange for bribes, contributed US$100,000 to the PPK campaign

At the end of the hearing, PPK's lawyer, Gisella Ruiz, and the rest of the defenses of the others involved, announced that they will appeal the restrictions and impediments to exit.

CAR WASH

PPK is the fourth former Peruvian president involved in the Lava Jato corruption scandal. In 2019, a year after the former president resigned from the presidency, Prosecutor Pérez's team raided four buildings located in Chorrillos, Miraflores and San Isidro, all linked to the former president. It should be noted that the alleged links with the questioned company Odebrecht were one of the main reasons for his departure from the top office of the Peruvian government.

During the administration of President Alejandro Toledo, Odebrecht was awarded sections 2 and 3 of the famous interoceanic highway, but this happened after the head of the construction company in Peru, Jorge Barata, promised the delivery of US$35 million in bribes to the former president, according to a publication by Ojo Público.

Tax theory assures that PPK promoted “the adequacy of the regulatory framework to favor” the Brazilian company. This, according to the aforementioned journalistic report, was done in order that Odebrecht could later economically favor the private interests of the accused. Kuczynski would have intervened in the legal regulations that allowed the construction of the road to “evade subsequent controls” and be declared of “national interest” together with the Olmos Project.

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