Peru’s attorney general filed a constitutional complaint on Tuesday accusing embattled President Pedro Castillo of criminal organization and corruption, an action that could lead to the leftist leader’s suspension.

Castillo, who has survived two impeachment trials since taking office in July last year, is already the subject of six criminal investigations.

The President has denied the allegations, claiming they are part of a political conspiracy to depose him.

“I file a constitutional complaint against Jose Pedro Castillo Terrones, in his capacity as President of the Republic, as an alleged perpetrator of crimes against the public peace in the form of a criminal organization aggravated by his position as leader,” Attorney General Patricia Benavides wrote in one document published on Twitter.

The complaint submitted to Parliament also targets two former Castillo ministers: former Transport and Communications Minister Juan Silva and Geiner Alvarado, who was in charge of housing.

They are suspected of influence and are considered part of the suspected criminal organization led by the President.

It is the first time that an incumbent President of Peru has been the target of such a complaint by a Attorney General.

“There is serious evidence of the alleged existence of a criminal organization in the presidential palace with the aim of capturing, controlling and directing procurement processes to generate illicit profits,” Benavides said.

It is the “exclusive and full responsibility of Parliament to decide on the constitutional complaint under the UN Convention against Corruption,” she stressed.

Parliament must examine the complaint in the coming days.

It would take at least 66 out of 130 votes to suspend Castillo, fewer than required for an impeachment trial, and his left-wing parliamentary alliance has just a third of the seats.

Castillo, a former country school teacher, dismissed the new allegations by prosecutors as a “coup d’état”.

“We will remain steadfast despite this political persecution,” he said at a press conference with foreign media.

“We currently have a political prosecutor’s office doing this instead of judging the real criminal networks.”

Castillo, 52, enjoys immunity until the end of his term in July 2026 but is open to investigation.

The head of state is already threatened with six investigations, including for alleged bribery and plagiarism of his university work.

Prosecutors also searched the home of one of Castillo’s sisters on Tuesday in search of one of her nephews, whom they accuse of being part of the alleged criminal gang led by the president.

The homes of 12 other people investigated in the case, including six opposition MPs accused of collaborating with the government, were also searched.

Five former government advisers were held for 10 days after the operation.

Peru is no stranger to political instability: it has had three different presidents in five days in 2020, and five presidents and three legislatures since 2016.