Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and Wife Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison Over Illegal Campaign Funds
Peru’s former president Ollanta Humala has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions from Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
His wife, Nadine Heredia, received the same sentence. Following the verdict, Peru’s foreign ministry confirmed that Heredia had sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Lima, citing medical reasons. She has been granted diplomatic asylum and will be allowed to travel to Brazil with the couple’s youngest child.
Humala, who held office from 2011 to 2016, joins a growing list of former Peruvian leaders entangled in corruption scandals and sentenced to prison.
The court determined that both Humala and Heredia accepted unlawful campaign donations during his 2006 and 2011 presidential runs. These funds were allegedly provided by Odebrecht—now operating as Novonor—a company that has admitted to widespread bribery across Latin America over several decades.
Prosecutors initially sought a 20-year prison term for Humala and a 26-year term for Heredia, accusing the couple of laundering millions through Peru’s Nationalist Party to fund political campaigns.
Both have denied any wrongdoing and have announced plans to appeal once the full verdict is released on April 29.
Their legal troubles began soon after Humala’s presidency ended in 2016. In 2017, the couple was taken into custody during an ongoing investigation. Although released in 2018, they remained under judicial scrutiny until the case reached its conclusion this week.
Heredia’s defense team emphasized that she had previously been denied permission to leave the country for cancer treatment. Brazilian authorities have not yet disclosed further details about the asylum arrangement.
Humala is expected to serve his sentence at a special police facility that also holds former presidents Pedro Castillo and Alejandro Toledo. Alberto Fujimori, another former leader, was released in 2023 after serving a lengthy sentence.
This case is part of the broader Lava Jato (Car Wash) probe that has implicated multiple high-profile politicians across Latin America. In a tragic turn in 2019, former Peruvian president Alan García took his own life as authorities attempted to arrest him over alleged Odebrecht-linked bribery.
Executives from Odebrecht have admitted that nearly every major presidential campaign in Peru over the past 30 years received financial backing from the company.
