Attorney General Pablo Sanchez addressed Alejandro Toledo's involvement in Odebrecht-related crimes affirming there is no doubt the former President —currently a fugitive from Peruvian justice— committed a felony.
"In my view, the fact that an felony was committed in the case of Toledo is completely proven," he told Spanish daily El Pais.
Regarding the ex-President's extradition, Sanchez explained the process takes time due to procedural technicalities.
"We submitted a preventive detention request for extradition purposes, but the United States Department of Justice demands enough evidence before authorizing the [Toledo] detention," he said.
In this sense, the Inca nation's "prosecutors and judges are working on meeting these requirements."
Further information
On the other hand, the official informed Brazil's Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot will reveal further information regarding the massive corruption case starting on June 1.
"We are also waiting for information from Switzerland. Odebrecht's Division of Structured Operations [bribery unit] used the program My Web Bay to encrypt all graft-related information. These codes are being deciphered, and we will be getting a response any time," he said.
No preferential treatment
The attorney assured liable parties' positions are completely irrelevant to the investigation.
"There is no special treatment for those who committed felonies; they are investigated whether they are presidents, vice-presidents, ministers or deputy ministers," he pointed out.
In this vein, he assured the Odebrecht case investigation remains underway and has not been halted, as many have suggested.
"There is no way an investigation, we learned about in November, can conclude in March."
Odebrecht bribes
Lastly, Sanchez estimated the US$29 million Odebrecht admitted to having paid in bribes to Peruvian officials would not be the whole amount.
"It [graft sum] must be a lot higher considering the sums of public tenders of so many years. A project that triggered a process in Ancash [region] alone is valued at US$400 million. We estimate 10% to 15% in bribes for each venture," he said.
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