The country’s next president and political party backing him in Congress could have a tense relationship with the prosecution and the judiciary, for suspicions of money laundering or offenses of corruption of public officials.
This situation can arise with either of the two presidential candidates in the race, who wins the second round: the rural teacher Pedro Castillo Terrones and the politician Keiko Fujimori Higuchi.
The Cerrón factor
Rural teacher Pedro Castillo has no legal proceedings, but his main political support, the doctor Vladimir Cerrón, founder of Peru Libre, and his brother, Waldemar Cerrón, a possible Peruvian Libre congressman for Junin.
Cerrón is serving a four-year sentence, which has been suspended for three years of conduct. The verdict will expire in October 2022. But an appeal in cassation is still pending at the Supreme Court.
He was convicted of the crime of incompatible negotiations by favoring a consortium in sanitary works in the city of La Oroya., upon his appointment as regional governor of Junín, 2010-2014. This belief prevented him from a second term as regional governor.
Most complicated, however, are two other investigations he has with the prosecution. 1) Huancayo’s sixth prosecutor is investigating him, along with his brothers Waldemar Cerrón Roja and Fritz Elías Cerrón Rojas and other leaders of his party, for the alleged crime of money laundering.
In addition, 2) the Supraprovincial Prosecutor for Corruption is investigating Cerrón for events related to the Antalsis case and the businessman Martín Belaunde Lossio. According to the prosecution, Cerrón would have received two Nissan Frontier trucks in the 2010 elections, in exchange for which he preferred the Antalsis company and the Asia SAC Corporation in the contracts for the construction of the Comuneros and Identidad bridges.
The Fujimori case
Keiko Fujimori and its Fuerza Popular party, and previously Fuerza 2011, have been under investigation since 2015 for alleged money laundering in the collection and use of millions of soles for the 2011 and 2016 political campaigns.
Last March, prosecutor José Domingo Pérez requested a 30-year and 10-month jail term for Fujimori for alleged crimes of money laundering, criminal organization, obstruction of justice and false statements.
The charges include her husband Mark Vito, his attorneys and other key leaders of Fuerza PopularIn addition, the prosecution asked the judiciary to order the dissolution of the Fujimori faction as an instrument of the alleged crime, if a conviction is handed down.
The charges for obstruction of justice relate to activities from when he was a Fuerza Popular congressman from 2016-2019, which allegedly attempted to influence former prosecutor of the nation Pedro Chávarry to thwart the investigations.
Fujimori dismisses the charges and attributes the charges to political persecution. According to the prosecution, Fujimori and his party “laundered” more than 15 million soles of illegal origin in the election campaigns.
The money came from Odebrecht and Peruvian businessmen, whom he would supposedly favor with laws and contracts, should he win the election and reach the presidency.
The case is awaiting prosecution and the relevant trial is ongoing, which may take about three more years before the verdict is handed down. As long as there is no confirmed conviction, Keiko Fujimori enjoys all his rights and can take the chair.
Will the process continue or will it be suspended?
Constitutionalist Omar Cairo believes that, If Keiko Fujimori is elected president, under the mandate of Article 117 of the Constitution, criminal proceedings against her will be suspended until July 2026.
Within the PJ and the Public Prosecution Service they are of the opinion that Article 117 speaks about not being able to submit an accusation, but not about previously brought charges.
They mention the case of Congressman Daniel Urresti attending the trial or the summons to former President Martín Vizcarra to testify in the Swing case.
In any case, the trial would continue until the subpoena for a public trial, at which point it would be reserved for Fujimori and continued against the other involved.
Judgment. The judiciary will make the final decision. Photo: Virgilio Grajeda / The Republic
Crops
Crime. The allegations of money laundering crimes in an election campaign are still the subject of legal debate. In 2018, Congress included the crime of illegal funding of political campaigns in the criminal code. The prosecutor’s office is of the opinion that these are two different crimes.
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