Peru asks U.S. for judicial help in questioning former first lady

Peru has asked the United States for judicial help in its efforts to question Eliane Karp, Peru's former first lady, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The petition issued by Peru's First Anti-Corruption Court for Karp's interrogation had been translated into English by the Interior Ministry and was sent to the U.S. authorities on Feb. 1.

The Peruvian government expects the questioning to be held soon, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Karp, a Belgian-born anthropologist, has reputedly missed court-ordered appearance for testimony in a probe of alleged mismanagement of funds in the National Commission for Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian People (Conapa), a government indigenous rights commission that she once led.

Peru's judiciary is investigating allegations that the Conapa has wasted as much as 5 million U.S. dollars of a World Bank loan to pay for high salaries, trips and parties.

Anti-corruption judge Magaly Bascones was told by the International Criminal Police Organization that Karp has been living in the United States' California where she teaches at Stanford University.

Karp's husband Alejandro Toledo served as the country's president from 2001 and left office in July 2006.

Source: Xinhua