Former Peruvian President Alan García shot himself in the head before being detained by police amid allegations he received illegal payment from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, reports AP.
Peru’s Health Ministry said García was sent to José Casimiro Ulloa Hospital at 6:45 a.m. local time for a bullet wound to the head.
García was under investigation for bribes allegedly paid during the construction of Lima’s metro during his 2006-2011 government. He had denied ever receiving money from Odebrecht, which is at the center of Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal after admitting in a 2016 plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that it paid corrupt officials across Latin America nearly $800 million in exchange for major infrastructure contracts.
