Former Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra is denounced for hiring a singer

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Former Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra was constitutionally denounced by the prosecutor of the Nation, Zoraida Avalos, for the irregular hiring of singer Richard Cisneros in the Ministry of Culture between 2018 and 2019.

Cisneros was an unknown singer who, in his circle of friends, boasted about the influence he exercised over Vizcarra, elected congressman for the Somos Perú party in the elections of last April 11, and whom he met in the 2016 election campaign.

Vizcarra was elected vice president in the 2016 elections, being part of the formula of former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, but assumed the Republic’s Presidency in 2018, after the resignation of Kuczynski for his links with the Brazilian company Odebrecht, investigated in Peru for a mega bribery scandal.

The prosecutor of the Nation filed this Thursday a constitutional complaint against Vizcarra and the former ministers of Culture Patricia Balbuena, Ulla Holmquist, and Sonia Guillén due to the hiring of Cisneros, known as Richard Swing, through service orders, even though he did not meet the requirements for the job position.

Vizcarra, removed from the Presidency of Peru in November 2020, has been denounced for aggravated influence peddling (author), fraudulent embezzlement by appropriation for a third party (instigator) crime of incompatible negotiation.

In addition, he was denounced for the crime of obstruction of justice since he met with workers of his office to coordinate the statements they were going to give to the Prosecutor’s Office during the preliminary investigations, according to audios released by the press.

Although the former president is currently an elected congressman, he will not assume this function because Congress disqualified him from holding political office for 10 years due to his irregular vaccination against covid-19 in November last year.

Meanwhile, the former ministers of Culture have been denounced for fraudulent embezzlement by appropriation for a third party (aggravated) and incompatible negotiation due to indications of their intervention to adjust the requirements of the position awarded to Cisneros and for attending the calls from the Government Palace referring to the payment to this person.