Peruvian official charged in major graft case turns self in

Peru's former deputy communications minister, a key suspect in a multinational corruption investigation, turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday.

Jorge Cuba flew back from the United States "to face graft charges" stemming from revelations that Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht paid millions to Peruvian officials in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.

Cuba served during ex-president Alan Garcia's second term in office (2006-2011), and "is accused of receiving 2 million U.S. dollars in bribes from corruption-tainted Odebrecht," state news agency Andina said.

According to investigators, the company made three deposits to Cuba's bank accounts from an offshore firm to secure a contract to build a stretch of Lima's urban rail network.

Cuba is the second Peruvian suspect detained in connection with the case, after Edwin Luyo Barrientos, a former government official and president of the bidding committee for Lima's rail line, was arrested in mid-January.

Several political observers have said Cuba's boss, former transport and communications minister Enrique Cornejo, should be held "politically liable" for the corruption under his watch.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying more than 29 million U.S. dollars in bribes to Peruvian officials during the administrations of former presidents Alejandro Toledo, Garcia and Ollanta Humala, who between them governed from 2001 to 2016.

Also Tuesday, Peru's former corruption prosecutor Joel Segura called on all three ex-presidents to cooperate with the investigations by providing any information they have.

The Odebrecht scandal broke at the end of December, following Brazilian media reports that the firm revealed to U.S. prosecutors it paid more than a billion U.S. dollars in bribes across much of Latin America and parts of Africa.

source: Xinhua