Peru: search of the presidential palace in search of the president's sister-in-law

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo (our photo) has been suspected of corruption by his country's prosecutor's office for months now.

AP - Juan Karita

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

For months now, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has been suspected of corruption by his country's prosecutor's office, which has launched more than five preliminary investigations against him.

This Tuesday, August 10, the presidential palace was searched for the head of state's sister-in-law.

Further reinforcing the crisis at the head of it.

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With our correspondent in Quito,

The anti-corruption prosecutors of the prosecution and the police waited more than an hour before being allowed to enter the presidential palace, in the heart of Lima.

They were only able to do so when the country's president returned, accompanied by his lawyer and several ministers.

Despite their searches, they did not find Yenifer Paredes, younger sister of the First Lady whom the presidential couple raised as if she were their daughter.

Criminal organization?

Aged 26, Yenifer Paredes is suspected of being part of a criminal organization which, thanks to front companies, fraudulently won public licitations (auctions) in the interior provinces of the country.

An arrest warrant has also been issued against a businessman Hugo Espino and his sister, who would have won some of these auctions.

According to the prosecution, this supposed organization could not have functioned without the president and his wife knowing about it.

Arrest

The police also searched for Yenifer Paredes at his home in the province of Cajamarca, in northern Peru as well as in a district of Lima, but without success.

The prosecution still arrested the mayor of Anguia, a rural town where Castillo and his family lived before winning the presidential election.

After resisting two impeachment attempts by Congress where the opposition is in the majority, President Castillo is the subject of five preliminary investigations, most of them for alleged corruption.

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• Peru

• Pedro Castillo

• Crime

• Corruption