Former Peruvian President Shoots Himself Before Getting Arrested For Money Laundering
Local police were at Alan Garcia's door to arrest him prior to his suicide.
By Jia Vern Tham — 18 Apr 2019, 12:51 PM
Embattled former president of Peru Alan Garcia shot himself just before getting arrested by local police yesterday, 17 April
Police had arrived at Garcia's home to execute an arrest warrant
According to BBC, the former president then asked to make a phone call to his attorney before going into a room and closed the door.
Minutes later, a gunshot was heard from the room. Garcia was found with a bullet wound to his head while sitting on a chair.
Garcia had been accused of money laundering and bribery in connection with a global corruption scandal involving one of the biggest construction firms in Latin America – Odebrecht
The former president, who served from 1985 to 1990 and 2006 to 2011, allegedly received bribes from Odebrecht during his second stint as the country's leader.
While the construction firm previously admitted to paying almost GBP23 million (approximately RM123 million) in bribes to the country since 2004, Garcia had always maintained that he was innocent.
The scandal has already implicated multiple Latin American politicians, including former Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kucynski, jailed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio, and Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.
CNN reported that Garcia's last tweet, which was posted a day before his suicide, claimed that there were no evidence against him regarding the scandal. He also argued that he had "never sold out and that is proven".