Kenji Fujimori

Kenji Gerardo Fujimori Higuchi (born 19 May 1980) is a Peruvian businessman and former politician representing Lima from 2011 until he was suspended from congressional duty in June 2018, in aftermath of the Mamanivideos scandal. He has since left politics and become a media personality.

Early life Kenji Fujimori was born on 19 May 1980 to Japanese Peruvian engineers, Alberto Fujimori, at the time dean of the science faculty of the National Agrarian University in Lima, and later President of Peru, and Susana Higuchi. He has three elder siblings. His father won the 1990 presidential elections, implemented portions of Plan Verde and performed the 1992 Peruvian coup d'état where he suspended the constitution, dissolving Congress and the opposition. Kenji's mother soon disagreed with her husband, and they divorced in 1996. After this, Kenji's 19-year-old sister Keiko was named "First Lady of Peru".

During his father's presidency, Kenji was seen as the favorite child of the family, creating some jealousy with his sister Keiko. He would often travel with his father during presidential functions.

Political career

Early political career In the 2006 regional elections, he unsuccessfully ran for Governor of the Lima Region receiving only 3.5% of the popular vote, running under his father's Sí Cumple party. In 2010, he was a founding member of Force 2011, led by his sister. Since March of that year, he has been the national secretary of youth of this party.

Congressman In the 2011 elections, he ran for a seat in Congress under the Force 2011 party in the constituency of Lima and he was elected, as he was the most voted congressman in his constituency and served for the 2011–2016 term In June 2018, following to the scandal, Congress suspended Kenji and two other congressmen of his party for alleged crimes of influence peddling and bribery. and on 20 March, he announced the creation of a new political party Cambio 21 (Change 21).

Controversies Both Kenji and his three siblings (Keiko, Hiro and Sachi) were involved in a media scandal at the end of his father's government when Presidential Advisor Vladimiro Montesinos declared in the so-called trial of the century that the payment of the studies in the United States of the children of the ex-President had been the product of the embezzlement of the coffers of Peruvian state. A subsequent expertise of the Judicial Power determined that the financing of studies, indeed, had been the product of non-declared money of the State. Similarly, it was wrapped in scandals and accusations after the anti-drug police found 100 kilos of cocaine in a store of a company of their property in the port of Callao in March 2013.

First impeachment process against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski

In December 2017, he and 10 other congressmen from the Popular Force party abstained from voting in favor of the vacancy against President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a decision that the Popular Force had agreed to vote in favor unanimously. As the vacancy did not prosper due to the 10 abstention votes, the Popular Force decided to initiate a disciplinary process against them at the beginning of 2018, when Congressman Bienvenido Ramirez was expelled and in a few hours Kenji Fujimori was expelled too, the remaining eight congressmen decided to resign from the party, a decision that had been agreed upon beforehand in the event that one of them was withdrawn from Fuerza Popular.

Kenjivideos scandal

On 21 March 2018, two days before President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski faced an impeachment process for a second time, a video was released of Kuczynski allies, including his lawyer and Kenji Fujimori, attempting to buy the vote against impeachment from one official. Following the release of the video, Kuczynski presented himself before congress and officially submitted his resignation to the Council of Ministers. In June 2018, following the scandal, Congress suspended Kenji and two other congressmen of his party for alleged crimes of influence peddling and bribery.

In January 2020, prosecutors were seeking a 12-year prison term for former lawmaker Kenji Fujimori on charges of attempting to buy votes in a plot to keep ex-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from being impeached.

Personal life On 30 June 2020, Fujimori married Erika Muñoz Regis.