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A judge accepted on Wednesday a habeas corpus presented by Peru's First Lady Nadine Heredia, who is seeking to close an investigation against her by the country's prosecutor over money laundering allegations.
The Prosecutor's Office is investigating unaccounted transfers for over $200,000 dollars between the years 2005 to 2009.
The judge accepted Heredia's writ due to links between the funds and Peruvian Politician Martin Belaunde's companies. Belaunde, a senior collaborator during President Ollanta Humala 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns, was detained in Bolivia earlier this year due to links to organized crime.
The case involves Belaunde's communications company located in “La Centralita” building. His company is also linked to an organized crime network headed by Ancash province's former major Cesar Alvarez.
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Last week, Heredia published a statement through her Facebook account, saying that she and her husband could not be held accountable for the origins of the money, given that they were still not officially constituted as a party.
“Those funds existed, but it’s necessary to say that these deposits were made in 2005 when we were not a political party, they were deposited as personal donations for the political project that Ollanta and I were building,” she explained.
Heredia is under public scrutiny after a TV channel revealed, earlier in May, that she had spent over $38,000 dollars in jewelry and household decorations.
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Despite admitting the habeas corpus, experts believe that dropping the money laundering charge will not clear Heredia, and she could be investigated over tax avoidance and an unaccounted increase of income.
In Peru, public authorities are required to report their income by law, to guarantee transparency.
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