Peru judge orders Kuczynski graft probe to be redone in reprieve for former president

FILE PHOTO: Peru's former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is seen at a court, after his arrest as part of an investigation into money laundering, in Lima, Peru April 16, 2019. Picture taken April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

LIMA (Reuters) -A Peruvian judge ruled on Monday that an investigation into alleged money laundering involving former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski needed to be done again, a short-term victory for one of several embattled former presidents of the country.

Prosecutors in early May filed money laundering and criminal organization charges against Kuczynski and asked for 35 years behind bars for the economist and former banker, who took office in July 2016 but resigned in March 2018 amid an investigation into alleged ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.