Image copyright Reuters Image caption Keiko Fujimori's arrest comes a week after a judge revoked a pardon for her father who will return to prison to serve his sentence for human rights abuses.

Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, has been arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering.

Mrs Fujimori, who is leader of the opposition in the Peruvian congress, was detained along with her husband.

The judge said they would be held initially for 10 days along with 19 other suspects.

Prosecutors allege she was involved in accepting illegal contributions to her party by the Brazilian firm, Odebrecht.

Mrs Fujimori denies any wrong-doing.

She was shown on television on Wednesday in a car in handcuffs after being detained.

Prosecutors have accused her of leading a criminal group inside her party that took $1.2m (£920,000) in illegal funds from Odebrecht for use during her 2011 presidential election campaign.

Earlier this year, former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in a scandal linked to the Odebrecht case.

In a letter published on social media after her arrest Mrs Fujimori said she was being politically persecuted.

"This is called political persecution." she said, "I've been detained without legal grounds."

The arrest came a week after her father had a presidential pardon revoked by a judge.

Alberto Fujimori is expected to return to jail to continue serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses.

Keiko Fujimori said her father's arrest was "abusive".

Her Fuerza Popular party has been a powerful opposition force and it currently controls Congress.

But in the last year there have been huge street protests against the political establishment.

At last weekend's local elections, the party suffered its worse losses in decades.</s>Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, has been arrested as part of an investigation into accusations of money laundering linked to her 2011 presidential campaign.

Fujimori was detained when she arrived at the state prosecutor's office to testify in the case, which was brought under Peru's Organised Crime Law, according to an official document seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

The document stated that Fujimori's 2011 Fuerza party, now called Fuerza Popular (Popular Force), received "illicit contributions through acts of corruption by Brazilian business group Odebrecht."

Building conglomerate Odebrecht has been at the center of Latin America's biggest graft scandal since acknowledging in a late 2016 leniency deal that it had bribed officials in a dozen countries, including Peru.

Fujimori will be detained for 10 days, along with 19 other people, including two former ministers from her father's government, according to her lawyer, Giuliana Loza.

Loza told local radio station RPP that the decision to arrest Fujimori had been "abusive and arbitrary."

"There is not a jot of evidence against her," she said.

Popular Force has a majority in Congress and was key to helping topple former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in a graft scandal in March.

Last week, a pardon granted to Alberto Fujimori by Kuczynski was annulled.

Following his extradition to Peru in 2007, Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for commanding death squads that massacred civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign during his rightwing government. He was later found guilty of corruption.

Keiko Fujimori's legal troubles could help President Martin Vizcarra, who threatened to dissolve Congress last month to pressure the opposition to pass his proposed judicial and political reforms.

A twice-defeated presidential candidate, Keiko Fujimori has led her father's right wing movement since he was imprisoned in 2007.</s>Police in Peru has arrested Keiko Fujimori, opposition leader and daughter of disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori, for alleged money laundering involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, according to her lawyer.

The 43-year-old was arrested on the orders of prosecutors investigating suspect contributions to her election campaign, her lawyer Giuliana Loza said.

Fujimori was detained when she arrived at the state prosecutor's office to give evidence in the case, under Peru's Organized Crime Law, according to an official document seen by Reuters news agency.

She was placed in preventive detention for 10 days, said Loza, who described the arrest as "an outrage and an abuse".

Fujimori leads the powerful conservative opposition party, Popular Force, which has a majority in Congress and was key to helping topple former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in a corruption scandal in March.

At least 19 others have been arrested in the case linked to contributions to the Popular Force during Fujimori's 2011 presidential campaign.

"She has placed herself at the disposal of the prosecutor's office," Loza said on Wednesday.

Since June, prosecutors have been investigating allegations that three former presidents took bribes disguised as campaign funds from Odebrecht, which is at the centre of political scandals across Latin America.

Former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Alan Garcia and Alejandro Toledo all took undeclared campaign contributions in exchange for pledges to have the Brazilian construction giant win local tenders, prosecutors said.

Fujimori's arrest comes a week after her 80-year-old father's presidential pardon for crimes against humanity was revoked by a top court.

Following his extradition to Peru in 2007, Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for commanding death squads that massacred civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign during his right-wing government. He was later found guilty of corruption.

Keiko Fujimori's legal troubles could help President Martin Vizcarra, who threatened to dissolve Congress last month to pressure the opposition to pass his proposed judicial and political reforms.

A twice-defeated presidential candidate, Fujimori has led the Popular Force since her father was imprisoned in 2007.</s>Keiko Fujimori, Peru’s opposition leader and daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori, has been detained as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering in her 2011 presidential campaign.

Fujimori’s lawyer Giuliana Loza said her client was detained on Wednesday when she attended the chief prosecutor’s office to provide testimony in the ongoing investigation.

Prosecutors are looking into the origin of several huge undeclared financial contributions to Fujimori’s campaign.

Fujimori’s arrest comes a week after a judge ordered that her father be returned to jail to finish a long sentence for human rights abuses during his 1990-2000 rule. Alberto Fujimori had received a medical pardon last year by former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.</s>LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori was detained on Wednesday as part of a money-laundering investigation, the latest political leader in the Andean nation to face scrutiny over alleged corruption.

Fujimori's lawyer, Giuliana Loza, told local media that the conservative politician was taken into custody after she showed up at the chief prosecutor's office to provide testimony into an ongoing probe into dubious financial contributions to her 2011 presidential campaign. The daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori will initially be held for 10 days.

The judge handling the case also ordered the arrest of 19 other people, including several former ministers in her father's government and senior officials in hew own conservative Popular Force party.

The probe was launched in 2016, amid another presidential run by Keiko Fujimori, and was immediately by her many supporters as politically motivated.

"This isn't justice. It's politics and it's abusive," Fujimori's American husband, Mark Villanella, who had also been under investigation in the same case, told reporters outside the prosecutor's office.

But many Peruvians, including current President Martin Vizcarra, have been cheering on the house cleaning, fed up with decades of entrenched corruption.

The judge handling the probe has also ordered the arrest of two former presidents, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo, for receiving money from Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction firm at the heart of Latin America's largest graft scandal. Both have denied any wrongdoing

Fujimori lost to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by fewer than 50,000 votes in the 2016 presidential runoff. But her party emerged in a kingmaking role with a majority of seats in congress as many Peruvians were nostalgic for the economic boom that coincided with her father's iron-fisted rule between 1990 and 2000.

However, the younger Fujimori's power has waned under Vizcarra, who stepped into the presidency after Kuczynski resigned earlier this year.

Last week, a judge ordered the elder Fujimori be returned to jail to finish a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses. Kuczynski had pardoned the former strongman last Christmas eve on humanitarian grounds in what was widely seen as a closed-door deal to stave off threats of impeachment.

Vizcarra, despite having little representation in congress, has also managed to outmaneuver Fujimori's party by pushing through congress plans for a December referendum to impose term limits on lawmakers amid other anti-corruption measures.</s>LIMA, Peru — A lawyer for conservative Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori says she has been detained as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering in her 2011 presidential campaign.

Giuliana Loza says her client was detained Wednesday when she showed up at the chief prosecutor's office to provide testimony in the ongoing probe.

Prosecutors are looking into the origin of several huge undeclared financial contributions to Fujimori's campaign.

Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori. A judge recently ordered he be returned to jail to finish a long sentence for human rights abuses. He had received a medical pardon last year by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.</s>Peruvian Judge Richard Concepción Carhuancho ordered the arrest of conservative opposition party leader Keiko Fujimori on Wednesday, along with 17 other politicians, on charges of having accepted bribes and laundered money from the Brazilian contractor Odebrecht.

Carhuancho described Fujimori as a “grave flight risk” in his decision. She turned herself in to authorities on Wednesday morning.

Fujimori’s arrest closely follows the repeal of a pardon for her father, former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. The 80-year-old received a pardon on humanitarian grounds under former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in December. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for alleged human rights violations during his tenure.

The government of current President Martín Vizcarra Fujimori’s brother, recently suspended Fujimori’s brother, Kenji, from Congress while he is under investigation for unrelated corruption charges.

Keiko Fujimori, the head of the conservative Popular Force party, turned herself in early Wednesday morning after Carhuancho ordered her arrest. According to Peru’s El Comercio newspaper, the judge wrote that Fujimori was a “great flight risk” because “she has constructed a criminal organization within the Popular Force party that had among its objectives to obtain political power and thus have a level of influence and interfere in the legislative and judicial branches.”

Fujimori and 17 others affiliated with the party will be detained for ten days, the Peruvian newspaper reported.

Popular Force is a right-wing party whose stances include strong support for law enforcement, lowering government spending, and a smaller role for government in the economy.

The arrests are the result of a testimony by Jorge Barata, described as “Odebrecht’s strongman in Peru,” who claimed that the firm gave Popular Force campaign donations in 2011. That testimony alleged the party took around one million dollars, though the court statement published by El Comercio accuses the party of taking $649, 573. The legislators who allegedly benefitted from the donation are among those arrested on Wednesday.

Peruvian media note that Judge Carhuancho has already ruled on several high-profile Odebrecht cases. Carhuancho ordered preventative detention measures similar to those against Keiko Fujimori against former presidents Alejandro Toledo and Ollanta Humala, both accused of taking money from Odebrecht.

Odebrecht is a Brazilian construction firm that, through multiple police investigations across the continent, has been found to have developed elaborate corruption schemes throughout South America. In most cases, Odebrecht would bribes politicians to secure a monopoly over government infrastructure projects. Odebrecht allegedly bribed politicians of all political ideologies throughout the continent. In Brazil, the company’s native country, its interactions with politicians triggered the investigation known as “Operation Car Wash,” in which dozens of elected officials from almost every political party in the country were found to have taken kickbacks to secure infrastructure contracts.

Keiko Fujimori’s attorney Giuliana Loza told reporters that the decision to imprison her client was “abusive” and “arbitrary.”

“There is no conviction or proof against her,” Loza argued. “An investigation that has taken over a year and there is no proof, we do not understand how they can order a preliminary detention.”

2018 has proven a dramatic year from the Fujimori family despite Keiko’s close loss to Kuczynski in the 2016 election, largely fueled by the rivalry between Keiko and Kenji.

Kenji Fujimori abandoned the Popular Force party in March after initial rumors surfaced that Keiko had taken Odebrecht money, stating the “party no longer has moral authority.” Less than a month later, the Popular Force party, under Keiko’s control, published a video allegedly showing Kenji discussing taking a bribe from the Kuczynski administration to support the president’s pet projects in Congress. Kuczynski tendered his resignation from the presidency within two weeks of these revelations under extreme pressure to do so or face impeachment. The impeachment proceedings were tied not to the Kenji Fujimori tape, but to accusations that Kuczynski had taken money from Odebrecht.

Three months later, Congress voted to suspend Kenji on accusations of corruption.

The party leader’s younger brother has remained mostly out of the spotlight since his suspension, resurfacing this month following the news that father Alberto Fujimori would be forced to return to prison. Vizcarra’s government overturned the pardon Kuczynski had granted the former president, whose legacy includes the defeat of the deadly Shining Path Marxist terrorist organization. Keiko and Kenji issued rare statements in agreement that the forcible return of the octogenarian to prison was a sad day for their family.

Alberto Fujimori has spent the past two weeks undergoing treatment for heart disease. He released a statement last week urging Vizcarra to issue a second pardon, as the ruling overturning it came from the Supreme Court, not the executive branch.

“I want to ask the president of the republic and members of the judiciary one thing only: Please, don’t kill me,” Fujimori said. “If I return to prison, my heart will not cope. It is too weak to go through the same thing again.”</s>LIMA, Peru (AP) — A lawyer for conservative Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori says she has been detained as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering in her 2011 presidential campaign. Giuliana Loza says…

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A lawyer for conservative Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori says she has been detained as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering in her 2011 presidential campaign.

Giuliana Loza says her client was detained Wednesday when she showed up at the chief prosecutor’s office to provide testimony in the ongoing probe.

Prosecutors are looking into the origin of several huge undeclared financial contributions to Fujimori’s campaign.

Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori. A judge recently ordered he be returned to jail to finish a long sentence for human rights abuses. He had received a medical pardon last year by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>LIMA – Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, has been arrested over charges of money laundering and accepting illegal campaign financing.

Mrs. Fujimori, who is head of Peru’s opposition Popular Force party, was shown on television on Wednesday in a car in handcuffs after being detained along with her husband.

They would be held initially for 10 days along with 19 other suspects, including ex-ministers Jaime Yoshiyama and Augusto Bedoya Camare.

According to Judge Richard Concepcion, Fujimori’s party created 114 people as contributors to cover up an illicit contribution which amounts to nearly 650,000 U.S. dollars for the 2011 presidential campaign.

The charges released Wednesday said Fujimori “created a criminal organization within the political party (Popular Force),” which aimed to obtain political power among other things and as a consequence has interfered with legislative and judicial affairs.

Disgraced Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht allegedly contributed to Fujimori’s campaign. Company executives have admitted to running a multinational bribery scheme to win lucrative government public works contracts.

Earlier this year, former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned in a scandal linked to the Odebrecht case.

In a letter published on social media after her arrest, Mrs. Fujimori said she was being politically persecuted. “This is called political persecution.” she said, “I’ve been detained without legal grounds.”

Her Fuerza Popular party has been a powerful opposition force and it currently controls Congress.

The arrest came a week after her father had a presidential pardon revoked by a judge.

Alberto Fujimori is expected to return to jail to continue serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses.</s>LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori was detained on Wednesday as part of a money-laundering investigation, the latest political leader in the Andean nation to face scrutiny over alleged corruption.

Photos of Fujimori covering her cuffed hands with a black jacket and escorted by police officers circulated on social media to the surprise of Peruvians who thought the powerful daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori would never see the inside of a jail cell.

The conservative politician was taken into custody after she showed up at the chief prosecutor's office to provide testimony into an ongoing probe into dubious financial contributions to her 2011 presidential campaign. She will initially be held for 10 days.

"They've persecuted me for 18 years and have so far not shown a single proof," Fujimori, 43, said in a defiant handwritten letter written from inside a police station and later posted on her Twitter account. "They aren't going to cut off our political project.....we must raise our voices!"

The judge handling the case also ordered the arrest of 19 other people, including several former ministers in her father's government and senior officials in her own Popular Force party.

According to the arrest order, Fujimori is suspected of leading a criminal network within her party that received $1.2 million in illegal payments from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has admitted in the U.S. to paying $788 million in bribes to politicians throughout Latin America. The 184-page document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, cites testimony from the former head of Odebrecht's operations in Peru.

The Peruvian probe was launched in 2016, amid another presidential run by Keiko Fujimori, and was immediately by her many supporters as politically motivated.

"This isn't justice. It's politics and it's abusive," Fujimori's American husband, Mark Villanella, who had also been under investigation in the same case, told reporters outside the prosecutor's office.

But many Peruvians, including current President Martin Vizcarra, have been cheering on the house cleaning, fed up with decades of entrenched corruption behind convictions or investigations against all five living former presidents.

The judge investigating Fujimori has also ordered the arrest of two former presidents, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo, for receiving money from Odebrecht. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

Fujimori lost to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by fewer than 50,000 votes in the 2016 presidential runoff. But her party emerged in a kingmaking role with a majority of seats in congress as many Peruvians were nostalgic for the economic boom that coincided with her father's iron-fisted rule between 1990 and 2000.

However, the younger Fujimori's power has waned under Vizcarra, who stepped into the presidency after Kuczynski resigned earlier this year.

Last week, a judge ordered the elder Fujimori return to jail to finish a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses. Kuczynski had pardoned the former strongman last Christmas eve on humanitarian grounds in what was widely seen as a closed-door deal to stave off threats of impeachment.

Vizcarra, despite having little representation in congress, has also managed to outmaneuver Fujimori's party by pushing through congress plans for a December referendum to impose term limits on lawmakers amid other anti-corruption measures.
Keiko Fujimori, leader of the opposition in the Congress of Peru and daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, is arrested on charges related to illicit campaign finance received from the Odebrecht corporation.