Justice prevents Keiko Fujimori from leaving Peru for 36 months due to the corruption case against him | International

Keiko Fujimori, the heiress of Alberto Fujimori who has been one step away from becoming the president of Peru three times, will not be able to leave the country for the next 36 months. This has been determined by the Judiciary in the framework of the investigations for the so-called Cocktails case. The leader of Fuerza Popular is accused of the alleged crimes of money laundering and of heading a criminal organization.

The case dates back to the 2016 electoral campaign —in which he fought for the presidency against the economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski inch by inch—, when his party organized six fundraising activities through luxurious dinners that could be accessed by paying between 250 and $500 per guest. According to Fuerza Popular, he collected more than 1,250,000 dollars. However, the Prosecutor's Office maintains that they could only justify 30%, some 390,000 dollars.

The Lava Jato Special Team, which is investigating the corruption network around the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, with ramifications in several countries, has the thesis that the famous cocktails would have actually been a front to receive irregular contributions from various companies, including the aforementioned firm from Brazil. For this case, Keiko Fujimori was in preventive detention in two different periods: between October 2018 and November 2019, and between January and May 2020. This did not prevent him from running for the 2021 general elections and, in principle, did not prevent him from running for office. reduced chances of winning. He made it to the second round, where he lost to Pedro Castillo by a minimal difference.

However, the case has run its course. This Wednesday, Judge Víctor Zúñiga concluded the accusation control hearings and decided that he deserves to go to trial. For this reason, to guarantee the presence of those involved, he ordered a 36-month ban on leaving Peru for Fujimori, his ex-partner and father of his daughters, Mark Vito Villanella, as well as for other parties closely related to Popular Force party.

All of them must comply with several obligations: not change their address without prior authorization; appear every 30 days in the biometric control registry and justify their activities; appear before the Public Ministry and the Judiciary when required; pay a bond that varies for each person involved and not communicate with co-defendants, witnesses or experts in the process. On this last point, an exception has been made with Fujimori and Vito, because although they are separated, they have daughters in common. The judge's decision has been appealed by the defense of those involved and must be reviewed by the National Appeals Chamber. After this step, a resolution must be issued to start the public trial in the coming days.

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