Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo says he’ll voluntarily surrender to U.S. Marshals if he’s ordered extradited to face corruption charges in his home country.
Until then, Toledo, 77, asked a U.S. magistrate judge to allow him to remain free on bail.
The U.S. government had asked the judge last week to revoke Toledo’s bail to ensure he’ll be available for transfer to Peruvian custody. The judge gave Toledo until Wednesday to respond to the government’s request.
“Dr. Toledo has not made any attempt to flee in the three years since his release,” his lawyers wrote in a letter to the judge. “Dr. Toledo is committed ‘to vindicating himself in court and restoring his public reputation.’”
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.
A U.S. judge had cleared Toledo’s extradition in September 2021 and the State Department granted Peru’s extradition request last week.
Toledo has appealed the extradition and a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is pending. He also asked the court to put his extradition on hold during the appeal.
Toledo is recovering from surgery and imprisoning him would exacerbate his health problems, his lawyers wrote.
“Now that he faces the prospect of being surrendered to Peru and imprisoned there, it is essential that Dr. Toledo do everything he can to treat his medical problems while he has access to his medical team,” the lawyers wrote.
The case is Toledo Manrique v. O’Keefe, 21-cv-08395, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
