Odebrecht corruption money in Panama accounts

A LARGE PART of the corruption money earned by the Brazilian construction giants Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez ended up in accounts in Panama while the rest went to Switzerland and Monaco.

The announcement came from Brazilian Attorney General Carlos dos Santos Lima, at a press conference in Brasilia, shortly after a massive anti-corruption swoop which included the participation of 220 security officers and the arrest of Odebrecht president Marcelo Odebrecht and Otavio Azevedo, heads of Andrade Gutierrez
“We do not have any doubt that Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez captained a cartel scheme within Petrobras ” said the prosecutor who said he had evidence of a sophisticated scheme of illegal payments to Petrobras ex-directors abroad, mostly through Panama , Switzerland and Monaco.
In total, the Federal Police issued 59 court orders and 38 arrest orders.
This new phase of “Operation Lava Jato” (car wash), revealed a huge network of bribes linked to politics that cost Petrobas some $2 billion. dos Santos Lima, who today held a press conference in Brasilia, shortly after the operation, which included the participation of 220 security officers in four cities-to stop Marcelo Odebrecht and Otavio Azevedo, heads of Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, respectively.
The two company leaders face charges of “forming a cartel, fraud in procurement, corruption, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering,” according to a statement released by the police.
Petrobras fraud, controlled by the State, was structured around a “club” of companies rigged bids for contract works awarded by state between 2004 and 2014.
According to confessions obtained during investigations bribes paid to obtain concessions were intended to finance political parties and swell personal fortunes of those involved.
The scandal under investigation by the attorney general’s office includes two governors, 13 senators and 22 deputies.
Andrade Gutierrez is a infrastructure and logistics business operating in 40 countries and working on the Games Park for the Oympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016, which refers on its website as “the main work of the 2016 Games.”
Odebrecht operates in the same sector and had a turnover of $40 billion in 2014. It has 181 000 employees in 21 countries and is also doing Olympics works: the revitalization of the port area of Rio de Janeiro. The Petrobras crisis exposed hundreds of suppliers and threatens a large number of jobs.
“We will not in any way obstruct the business of such firms or stop the market in spite of certain terrorist statements from employers,” said Dos Santos Lima in the press conference, referring to warnings about entrepreneurs the possible consequences of “Lava Jato” for the economy.
The detainees have been transferred to the city of Curitiba.