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What Is the “Cócteles” Case Against Keiko Fujimori?

What Is the “Cócteles” Case Against Keiko Fujimori?

Keiko Fujimori Higuchi took office as president of Peru on July 28, 2026, after winning the runoff by a margin of just 49,641 votes over Roberto Sánchez. It was her fourth presidential bid. She comes to office with 69 prosecutorial investigations on her record —51 closed, 18 ongoing—, almost all of them stemming from the “Cócteles” case: the investigation into the irregular financing of her 2011 and 2016 campaigns, which includes acknowledged contributions from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. This file reviews the documented findings about her political career.

Table of findings

N Finding Detail Status
1 “Cócteles” case — 2011 campaign Simulated donations originating from corporate figures and Odebrecht (US$1 million) channeled as “cocktail parties” and raffles Partially acknowledged by the defense team of Fuerza Popular
2 “Cócteles” case — 2016 campaign Unreported funds, such as US$480,000 gathered by José Chlimper Under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office; lacking a definitive verdict
3 Pretrial detention (2018-2019) Surpassing 13 months behind bars driven by the danger of impeding the inquiry Validated — judicial mandate executed
4 Trial (2024-2025) Charged with criminal organization, money laundering, obstruction, and false statement; the Prosecutor’s Office requested 30 years and 10 months of imprisonment Proceedings conducted; devoid of a substantive conviction
5 Trial annulled by the TC (Oct. 2025) The Constitutional Court invalidated the proceedings due to procedural flaws blamed on the Prosecutor’s Office Validated — TC decree
6 Definitive dismissal (Jan. 2026) The TC mandated the dropping of the money laundering and criminal organization charges concerning the 2011 and 2016 donations Validated — TC decree
7 Unsubstantiated electoral fraud claim (2021) Following her runoff defeat, she advanced the “electoral fraud” thesis and attempted to invalidate ballots Dismissed — the OAS and the EU characterized the ballot as clean
8 Appointment of people formerly under investigation to her government (Sept. 2026) She designated Jaime Yoshiyama, José Chlimper, and Arsenio Oré —investigated in the “Cócteles” inquiry— to a presidential advisory board Corroborated by press reports
9 Clash with the Judiciary over her UN speech (Sept. 2026) During the General Assembly, she challenged the ongoing legal actions against service members regarding the counter-terrorism campaign; the head of the Judiciary rejected her remarks Corroborated — her personal public declaration

1. The “Cócteles” case — financing of the 2011 campaign

In September 2011, the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) documented that Fuerza Popular (known at the time as Fuerza 2011) reported earnings surpassing S/17 million for that presidential race, featuring a significant amount of transfers from unknown sources. The political organization accounted for a portion of that sum through a pair of gatherings: a cocktail reception in December 2010 that allegedly brought in roughly US$119,750 alongside a second event that same month valued at approximately US$90,000. Ever since 2014, the Prosecutor’s Office has argued that such fundraisers and sweepstakes could not have financed an operation of that magnitude, contending they actually concealed a ring of “simulated contributors,” commonly referred to as “pitufeo” (smurfing)—namely, entrepreneurs who lent their identities to mask the genuine source of the funds. El Comercio reported that Fuerza Popular’s legal team admitted during the trial to the existence of these fictitious donors, while nevertheless rejecting the claim that such actions amounted to money laundering.

Credicorp’s Dionisio Romero, with about US$3.65 million, and Juan Rassmuss of Sudamericana de Fibras appear among the identified contributors, Resumen Latinoamericano reported. Jorge Barata, who represented Odebrecht in Peru, told Peruvian prosecutors in February 2019 that the Brazilian builder had given US$1.2 million to the 2011 campaign by way of Jaime Yoshiyama, according to RPP. In addition, Marcelo Odebrecht’s notebook, disclosed in 2017, contained a note about “increase Keiko,” as cited by El Comercio.

2. The “Cócteles” case — financing of the 2016 campaign

The same inquiry carried over into the 2016 presidential race, where Fujimori was narrowly defeated by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in the runoff vote. As reported by Resumen Latinoamericano, during 2016 José Chlimper Ackerman, who served at the time as the general secretary of Fuerza Popular, allegedly gathered US$480,000 across five installments—funds whose ultimate whereabouts remained undocumented within the investigative records of the prosecution. An assessment issued in 2018 by the Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office revealed that the political organization could only justify 33% of the total funds accumulated throughout both electoral contests.

The Prosecutor’s Office, led by prosecutor José Domingo Pérez, asserts that Fujimori and the Fuerza Popular hierarchy employed identical fake-donor tactics back in 2016 to mask the true source of the money, as outlined by El Comercio. Among the individuals called to the stand was former congressman Rolando Reátegui, who signed a collaboration agreement (colaboración eficaz) and detailed how he enlisted sham contributors throughout the San Martín region upon instructions from the party command, based on reports from Epicentro.

3. Preliminary detention and pretrial detention (2018-2019)

In October 2018, Fujimori was held in preliminary custody for a ten-day period as the Prosecutor’s Office examined suspected money laundering tied to the cocktail fundraisers and raffles organized by Fuerza 2011, as reported by Al Jazeera. Several months afterward, magistrate Richard Concepción Carhuancho approved a request from prosecutors for pretrial detention citing potential obstruction of the probe, leaving Fujimori detained at the Anexo de Mujeres facility in Chorrillos for upwards of 13 months, according to La República. Prosecutors maintained at the time that Fujimori “directs, leads and coordinates” the operations of a criminal organization inside her political group. This decision was subsequently reassessed, allowing Fujimori to secure her release, even though she stayed bound by several limitations (comparecencia, a travel prohibition) while the legal proceedings progressed.

4. Trial and the prosecution’s indictment (2024-2025)

The “Cócteles” trial got under way on July 1, 2024, with Fujimori, her former partner Mark Vito Villanella and 44 other people as defendants, according to Infobae. She stood accused of criminal organization, money laundering, obstruction of justice and false statement in an administrative proceeding. As El Comercio reports, the indictment review stage that preceded the trial lasted one year and nine months under judge Zúñiga, with more than 13,000 pages in the prosecutors’ file; prosecutors, the outlet adds, asked for 30 years and 10 months in prison for ex-advisers Pier Figari and Ana Herz, and for 22 years and 8 months for Vito Villanella.

That same case file records that a protected witness said Figari and Herz took money from businesspeople who wanted to stay off the official list of 2011 campaign contributors. Throughout the proceedings, Fujimori’s defense argued that the Prosecutor’s Office would not manage to prove money laundering.

5. Trial annulled by the Constitutional Court (October 2025)

In October 2025, while the trial was still under way, the Constitutional Court (TC) annulled the proceedings that had begun in 2024. As reported by La Válvula, the TC found that the Prosecutor’s Office had made multiple amendments to its indictment that undermined the defendants’ right to due process. The ruling did not address whether or not the irregular financing took place, but rather procedural defects attributed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office over the years of the investigation.

6. Definitive dismissal of the case (January 2026)

La Válvula reported that in January 2026 the Constitutional Court ordered the dismissal of the charges of money laundering and criminal organization linked to what was received in the 2011 and 2016 campaigns. Its grounds, per El Comercio‘s reconstruction: when the events took place (2011 and 2016), irregular party financing was not a standalone crime (it only took effect as an offense in 2019), and prosecutors had not proven that a criminal organization existed inside the party. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski had already benefited from that procedural route —his Odebrecht contributions case was also dismissed in 2026—, which drew a public complaint from Ollanta Humala, convicted for similar acts and still in prison.

This ruling brings to a close, at least within the realm of criminal justice, the judicial chapter that defined Fujimori’s political journey for upwards of ten years.

7. Unsubstantiated electoral fraud claim (2021)

Following her 0.25 percentage point defeat to Pedro Castillo in the 2021 runoff, Keiko Fujimori initially declined to concede, alleging fraud and submitting hundreds of petitions to invalidate polling records and ballots, as noted by Wikipedia. After the National Elections Jury (JNE) dismissed these appeals and officially declared Castillo the victor on July 19, 2021, she finally stated that she would respect the outcome.

International electoral observation bodies, among them the Organization of American States alongside the European Union, determined that the vote was clean and competitive, as reported by La Válvula. No anomalies were recorded that could substantiate allegations of fraud on a magnitude sufficient to reverse the outcome.

8. Appointment of people formerly under investigation to her government (September 2026)

On September 16, 2026, by then serving as president, Fujimori named Jaime Yoshiyama Tanaka, José Chlimper Ackerman, and Arsenio Oré as members of a Presidential Office Advisory Commission, as reported by La República. Yoshiyama was singled out by the Prosecutor’s Office as the individual who, based on Jorge Barata’s statements, accepted and hid Odebrecht funds for the 2011 electoral bid; meanwhile, Chlimper, who then served as the party’s general secretary, faced investigations for the same offenses attributed to Fujimori, including criminal organization, money laundering, making false declarations, and generic falsification. Previously, both figures had held ministerial portfolios throughout the administration of Alberto Fujimori.

With the case dismissed in January 2026, none of the three faces any pending charges in the “Cócteles” case, but the appointment revived questions about the president’s closeness to the circle singled out in the case that defined her career.

9. Clash with the Judiciary over her UN speech (September 2026)

On September 22, 2026, before the United Nations General Assembly, Fujimori stated: “we defeated terrorism, but unfortunately even today, after 34 years, those who took on that mission are still being prosecuted, despite it having been shown that due process was violated,” according to Infobae. The president of the Judiciary, Janet Tello, “completely” rejected those words, and recalled that judges were also murdered in the fight against terrorism and that it was judges who convicted Abimael Guzmán.

Instead of backing down, Fujimori responded that she would not “stay silent” about “the mistakes of the past,” as reported by Infobae. This event served as the initial public clash involving her administration and the leader of the Judiciary.

Annex: open investigations without indictment or judgment

These inquiries remain active, having yielded neither formal charges nor a legal verdict thus far. They form part of her judicial history rather than established truths. Ever since she assumed office, Article 117 of the Constitution has restricted the advancement of legal proceedings against her throughout her tenure, as reported by Gestión.

Inquiry regarding contributions made to the 2021 campaign

On September 30, 2025, the First Supraprovincial Corporate Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Money Laundering Crimes formally launched a preparatory investigation targeting Fujimori, Luis Galarreta, Miguel Torres, Lidman Miranda, alongside the political party Fuerza Popular as a corporate entity, alleging they formed a criminal organization to launder assets via donations tied to the 2021 election campaign, as reported by RPP. The timeframe spans 36 months, and magistrate Wilson Verástegui mandated merely simple appearance (comparecencia simple).

According to Infobae, the prosecution’s theory includes false donations of undeclared origin, the use of S/1.6 million in public financing for campaign purposes, and the collection of S/1,258,708 between July 9 and 30, 2021, to challenge Pedro Castillo’s victory. Several contributors denied having made the donations attributed to them. There is no indictment or judgment.

The Alas Peruanas case

As part of a probe distinct from the “Cócteles” inquiry, the Public Prosecutor’s Office attributes to Fujimori and her ex-advisor Pier Figari the alleged commission of aggravated money laundering, utilizing funds allegedly originating from Universidad Alas Peruanas as well as the organization attributed to its founder, Fidel Ramírez, who is the father of former Fuerza Popular secretary general Joaquín Ramírez. According to La República, the prosecution’s hypothesis encompasses S/210,000 obtained in 2011, S/54,536 spanning 2014 and 2015, alongside a pair of real estate conveyances in Lima.

The Fourth National Preparatory Investigation Court added Fuerza Popular as a legal entity on April 30, 2025, but Gestión later reported that an appeals chamber declared that inclusion unlawful and removed the party from the proceedings. The investigation against the individuals remains open, without an indictment.

Illicit enrichment investigation (2026)

On February 4, 2026, weeks after the dismissal of the “Cócteles” proceedings, reports revealed that Lima’s First Provincial Corporate Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Public Corruption Crimes had launched a probe into Fujimori concerning illicit enrichment, as reported by Infobae. Investigators are centering their attention on the US$3.6 million in cash allegedly given to her by Dionisio Romero across the period from November 2010 to May 2011; authorities point out that her official financial disclosures as a congresswoman for 2010 and 2011 showed virtually no variation despite the injection of those funds.

Unlike the dismissed case, which centered on party financing, this investigation examines her personal assets. It was classified as complex, with an initial term of eight months. There is no indictment.

Sources

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By William Davis

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