Prosecutor drops money laundering probe of Peru first lady

Lima: Peru`s First Lady Nadine Heredia will not be investigated for money laundering as alleged by a prosecutor, a court ruled Tuesday.

A Lima court ruled that the allegations that Heredia had not justified about 215,000 dollars in income at a time when her husband President Ollanta Humala received funds from private Venezuelan companies -- first investigated in 2009 and dropped in 2011 -- could not be reinvestigated under the law.

Peru`s special prosecutor for money laundering Ricardo Rojas Leon reopened the case in January saying that the origin of the funds in question and where they ended up had to be determined.

He argued that there were new elements, citing a deposit of $87,000 by Venezuela`s Kaysamak company into accounts belonging to Heredia`s mother and a friend.

All the funds ended up in the account of the first lady, who is also chair of the Nationalist Party and a potential presidential hopeful herself.

Humala`s government maintained there was nothing illegal in the transactions.

The court said the prosecutor could investigate any event from 2009 forward, but Heredia`s attorney will appeal so that the court is barred from further investigation.

Last week, Heredia wrote on Facebook that she "never received money from the coffers of the Venezuelan state."

The investigation brought widespread criticism of the government. Humala has an approval rating of around 20 percent.