Lima, Nov. 27 (EFE).- An investigation against the closest advisors of Peru’s Attorney General Patricia Benavides led to the arrest Monday morning of an aide who has said is willing to cooperate in the investigation.
The detainee, Jaime Villanueva, was arrested Monday morning by a special team formed by the police and the Attorney General’s Office against Corruption of Power for a case of alleged influence peddling of which Benavides would be the leader.
Another advisor, Miguel Ángel Girao, and the parliamentary coordinator, Abel Hurtado, are accused of being part of this alleged criminal network.
Shortly after the news of the arrest, Benavides removed both Villanueva and the head of the investigation, Marita Barreto, as a document that was made public showed.
Villanueva has pledged to collaborate with the investigation, according to his lawyer.
«What we discussed first was his state of health. Then we discussed the viability of his collaboration in all the stages of the investigation, and he agrees: he will collaborate in all the stages of the investigation,» César Euscátegui, Villanueva’s lawyer, told reporters.
The lawyer also pointed out that «the accusation is serious, for influence peddling,» so both Villanueva and his family «are very upset.»
The newspaper El Comercio stated that Villanueva «would have been responsible for instrumentalizing ‘the constitutional power of the monopoly of criminal prosecution for his own benefit.'»
The President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, said on Monday that her government is conducting a «frontal fight against corruption,» although she avoided directly mentioning the crisis at the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
During the inauguration of the tenth annual International Conference for Integrity, Boluarte said that «for years, corruption has weakened institutions and cut short the hopes and dreams of development of millions of Peruvians, especially our most vulnerable compatriots.»
She added that for this reason her government «has a clear mission to work for the 33 million Peruvians with honesty, transparency and in this frontal fight against corruption.» EFE
gdl/ics
