(22 Dec 2017) Peru's embattled president acknowledged December 17th 2017 that he did "earn some money" as a result of services his private consulting firm provided to the Brazilian construction company entangled in Latin America's biggest corruption scandal.
In an hour-long interview with Peruvian media, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski repeated assertions that he had no involvement in the Westfield Capital firm when Odebrecht-led consortiums made $782,000 in payments over a decade ago, including during years when he was a government minister.
But Kuczynski did agree that as a shareholder in the company he would have benefited from any profits that resulted from the Odebrecht transactions.
"I did earn some money," he said after repeated questioning.
The former Wall Street banker is in a fight for his political survival after an opposition-led commission revealed Odebrecht documents showing payments to Westfield Capital between 2004 and 2007.
Lawmakers have initiated impeachment proceedings on grounds that Kuczynski displayed "moral incapacity" by failing to disclose the payments.
Congress is to vote December 21st on whether he should be removed.
December 17th's interview was a preview of what the Andean nation might witness December 21st when Kuczynski defends himself before the vote.
The 79-year-old president said he handed all responsibilities related to Westfield Capital to business partner Gerardo Sepulveda after becoming Peru's finance minister in 2004 and did not know anything about the contracts until well after they were executed.
Odebrecht has admitted to paying nearly $800 million in bribes in various countries to obtain lucrative public works contracts in a 2016 US Justice Department plea agreement, including $29 million in Peru.
In a letter to a Peruvian newspaper distributed Saturday, Odebrecht officials said the payments to Westfield Capital were not part of the larger corruption investigation underway and had been properly disclosed and accounted for.
The company also confirmed Kuczynski's assertion that all the contracts were signed exclusively with Sepulveda.
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Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on December 21st arrived at the Andean nation's parliament to testify in his defence before lawmakers vote on whether or not he should be removed from office.
Opposition lawmakers are intent on ousting the 79-year-old former Wall Street banker after revelations his private consulting business received payments from Odebrecht.
The Brazilian construction giant is at the centre of Latin America's largest corruption scandal.
Kuczynski has said he had no management duties at his consulting firm Westfield Capital when it received 782,000 US dollars in payments between 2004 and 2007.
During much of that time, he was a high-ranking government minister.
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Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski says the nation's democracy is at risk with a pending impeachment vote that could remove him from office.
In his initial remarks to lawmakers December 21st, Kuczynski said he came to look them in the eye and state "I am not corrupt and I have not lied".
The president is presenting a detailed account of the 782,000 US dollars in payments provided to his Westfield Capital consulting firm by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America's largest corruption scandal.
The payments were made over a decade ago.
Kuczynski is being given at least two hours to state his case.
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Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski appeared December 22nd for the first time since surviving a vote to impeach him.
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