Peru’s Ex-President Wins a Short Reprieve of Extradition From US

(Bloomberg) — Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo was granted a short reprieve on his extradition from the US to Peru, which intends to try him on trial on corruption charges.

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US District Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco put Toledo’s extradition off for one week to give him a chance to ask the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals for a longer stay. The appeals court had earlier rejected Toledo’s request for a stay while he challenged the extradition.

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 between 2001 and 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 US judge had cleared Toledo’s extradition in September 2021 and the State Department granted Peru’s extradition request on Tuesday.

Toledo has appealed the extradition and a decision from the 9th Circuit is pending.

The US asked a magistrate judge in San Francisco Wednesday to revoke Toledo’s bail so he could be taken into custody and sent to Peru. The judge on Thursday gave Toledo until March 1 to respond to the US request.

The case is Toledo Manrique v. O’Keefe, 21-cv-08395, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).