LIME. The Peruvian prosecutor’s office requested more than five years in prison for the leftist presidential candidate, Roberto Sánchez, for the alleged crime of declaring false information before the electoral body about contributions to his campaign between 2018 and 2020, the Public Ministry reported this Wednesday.
Sánchez slightly leads the far-right Rafael López Aliaga for second place in the first round, held on April 12, to ensure his passage to the presidential runoff against the right-wing Keiko Fujimori. The official count is due to end this week.
The accusation against Sánchez found inconsistencies in the financial reports of the leftist leader’s party, Together for Peru, in campaigns for regional and municipal elections in which they participated, according to a document disseminated in local media and whose authenticity was confirmed this Wednesday by the prosecutor’s office.
“Roberto Sánchez is credited with being the author of the crimes of false declaration in administrative proceedings and falsification of information on contributions and income of political organizations,” the accusation states.
The prosecution requested five years and four months for the candidate.
The case was first presented to the courts in January 2026, but the court partially rejected it and asked prosecutors to reformulate it.
The Judiciary scheduled a hearing for May 27 to determine whether the case goes to oral trial or is filed.
Sánchez would not have declared the funds
According to the accusation, Sánchez would have received more than $57,000 in contributions from members of Together for Peru for party activities, which were not declared before the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE).
“For years they have tried to establish a lie to discredit me politically. The justice system has already filed the accusations regarding alleged personal use of the party’s economic resources, because there was never any fraud or misappropriation,” Sánchez indicated on his social networks.
Sánchez, with 12%, and López Aliaga, with 11.9%, are fighting vote by vote for passage to the second round, scheduled for June 7, in a scrutiny that is progressing late due to complaints of irregularities in the April 12 vote.
With 99.94% of the votes counted, Keiko Fujimori leads the results of the first round with 17.1% of the votes.
