British News Agency

The scandal erupted last month after videos surfaced showing that Jerí had met several times outside his official schedule with businessman Zhihua Yang, who is under government scrutiny.

Jerí had previously apologized for the meetings but denied any wrongdoing and accused his rivals of conducting a public smear campaign.

With his removal, Jerí, who replaced former leader Dina Boluarte, impeached in October last year, became the third president to be ousted.

Jerí was Peru’s seventh president since 2016, a period during which several leaders left office under controversial circumstances.

Peru’s Congress will vote on Wednesday to elect the next interim president.

Lawmakers voted 75 to 24 in favor of Jerí’s removal following a series of controversies dubbed “Chifa-gate,” a local term used for Chinese restaurants.

Local media first published security camera footage of meetings between Jerí and Yang, who owns multiple businesses and received a state concession for an energy project.

In one of the videos, Jerí was seen visiting one of Yang’s restaurants late at night wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Another Chinese national, under investigation for alleged links to an illegal timber network and under house arrest, was also present at one of the meetings.

Peruvian law requires presidents to document all official activities, but the former leader did not record these meetings.