A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered a former president of Peru remanded to custody following his recent arrest on an extradition request from that country.
Alejandro Toledo Manrique, also known as Alejandro Toledo, served as president of Peru from 2001 to 2006, and he is wanted there on charges of influence peddling, collusion and money laundering, according to the U.S. District Court criminal complaint against him.
The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Manrique July 16, reported Nicole Navas Oxman, U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman. Oxman could not release the location of the arrest, but Manrique lived in Los Altos as recently as March, when San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him on a public drunkenness charge.
Manrique appeared July 19 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco for a detention hearing related to the extradition request.
“After Mr. Toledo was arrested, the FBI searched his home, and they apparently found $40,000 in cash in a suitcase,” Hixson said, explaining his decision to deny bail. “It’s possible that’s where that guy keeps his cash. It’s also possible he’s got some contingency planning … (to) make a run for it.”
Joseph Russoniello, Manrique’s attorney at the hearing, argued the money belonged to Manrique’s wife and that it was used to cover living expenses. Prosecutors noted Manrique has strong ties and finances abroad, making him a “significant flight risk.”
During Manrique’s presidency, he solicited a $35 million bribe from Odebrecht in exchange for ensuring the Brazilian construction conglomerate would secure the contract for building a highway between Peru and Brazil, according to the criminal complaint. Manrique allegedly received $20 million from Odebrecht representatives and then laundered the money through various companies and offshore accounts. Odebrecht is implicated in similar corruption scandals involving leaders across Latin America.
Manrique first came to the Bay Area in the 1960s when he accepted a soccer scholarship at the University of San Francisco, Russoniello told Hixson in a monologue intended to demonstrate his client’s strong ties to the community and secure his release. Manrique then proceeded to Stanford University, where he graduated with a doctorate in the economics of human resources. While serving as a senior fellow at Stanford, he produced “The Shared Society: A Vision for the Global Future of Latin America,” a 2015 book President Bill Clinton praised as “(a) roadmap for promoting growth and creating the inclusive, prosperous society that is well within reach,” according to the cover.
Manrique returned to the Bay Area in 2016 to rejoin Stanford and complete a second book on Latin American economic development, Russoniello said.
“The fact that he’s a traveled person and the fact that he has spent time in and out of the Bay Area is of significance because it demonstrates his commitment throughout his life has been in the course of sort of improving conditions in Peru and improving the understanding throughout the world of how things are doing there,” the attorney said.
Peruvian officials previously attempted to facilitate Manrique’s extradition earlier this year following his public drunkenness arrest. San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies took him into custody March 17 after he allegedly created a disturbance at the Dutch Goose, a counter-service restaurant in Menlo Park. Manrique spent a night in jail and was released.
“While he was in custody, we received a message from Interpol regarding possible charges from Peru against Mr. Toledo Manrique,” wrote Detective Rosemerry Blankswade, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, in an email to the Town Crier at the time. “After reaching out to Peruvian officials and Interpol, we learned that the existence of charges in Peru alone does not authorize the subject’s arrest in the United States.”
Manrique is scheduled to appear next in court Aug. 7 for a status hearing related to the extradition request.
