Keiko Fujimori, whose father is currently in jail, came extremely close to becoming the president of Peru in the recent presidential election.
Peruvian prosecutors began an investigation into money laundering by leader of the Fuerza Popular party, Keiko Fujimori, former presidential candidate and daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori.
The representative of the prosecutor’s office in charge of investigating money laundering, Sara Vidal, included Fujimori in the main investigation targeting former congressman Joaquin Ramirez, one of the main financiers of her campaign.
Fujimori is suspected of giving Ramirez US$15 million to channel through his chain of gas stations and finance her presidential campaign in 2011.
The prosecution presented evidence that a Peruvian pilot living in the U.S. Jesus Francisco Vasquez gave an audiotape to the DEA where Ramirez is heard saying that Fujimori had given him US$15 million that he laundered in his businesses.
Vidal also argued that they didn’t rule out that part of the assets collected by Alberto Fujimori in several corruption cases, for which he was convicted, are now used by companies linked to his daughter and Ramirez “in order to give them the appearance of legality.”
Keiko Fujimori has been defeated twice in a row in a presidential race, but this time she only lost by a fraction of a percent.
Fujimori lost the presidential election against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski last June by a margin of 0.25 percent.
As a candidate, she vowed not to release her father, who is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity. However, after her defeat she has been campaigning to release him.
