Yossi Maiman
Photo: Orel Cohen
Israeli businessman turns state witness in Peru ex-president bribery case
Former President Toledo faces three separate bribery charges, all of which Yossi Maiman allegedly facilitated; Despite early snags, Maiman will now testify against Toledo on these charges.
Israeli businessman Yossi Maiman signed a state witness agreement with the Peruvian State Attorney's Office and will be testifying against former president Alejandro Toledo.
According to a report in Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, Maiman penned the agreement with the special investigative team headed by prosecutor Hamilton Castro. Maiman is expected to testify against Toledo and his wife, Eliane Karp, on three cases of bribery.
The first case, the Odebrecht affair, has to do with bribes Toledo allegedly received from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, with Maiman acting as middleman. The company allegedly transferred at least $11 million to a London Citibank branch belonging to companies owned by Maiman, with the money then being funneled to Swiss and Panamanian bank accounts belonging to Toledo himself.
Businessman Yossi Maiman to testify against Peru President Toledo (Photo: Orel Cohen)
The Peruvian prosecution claims Toledo used some of these funds to purchase a house in the luxury Casuarinas neighborhood of the capital, Lima, for $3.75 million, as well as two offices in a tower complex called Omega for $882,000.
In return for the bribery, Toledo allegedly ensured Odebrecht won a tender for constructing the highway system connecting Brazil and Peru, which reaches all the way to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
The money was funneled to Toledo—then guest lecturer at Stanford University—between 2005-2008 when President Alan García in office. Payments were then made in accordance with progress on the roadwork.
The second affair Maiman is expected to testify on revolves around Ecoteva, a company founded in Costa Rica and registered to the name of Toledo's mother-in-law, Eva Fernenbug, which was allegedly used by the former president to receive kickbacks from Odebrecht.
The prosecution says that in this instance, funds deposited in Ecoteva accounts were moved to those of a company called Confiado Internacional, of which Maiman was a registered owner. Toledo provided several accounts as to the source of the money in the Ecoteva records, including claiming it came from German reparation funds his mother-in-law had received.
The third affair also has to do with a Brazilian company, conglomerate Camargo Corrêa, which allegedly bribed Toledo through Maiman.
Maiman was in talks of turning state's evidence, Peruvian media outlets reported in April, but they ran into difficulties. The same month Peruvian authorities subpoenaed Maiman for questioning. According to the El Comercio report, the talks were revived in the past few weeks and a state witness agreement has now been finalized.
Maiman declined comment.
