A light on Panama as Odebrecht starts to talk
IN A DEAL to reduce his near 20 year prison sentence, Marcelo Odebrecht, the former president of the Brazilian construction giant has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating corruption cases that could shed light on Panama’s role in moving bribery money to Switzerland.
Sources linked to the Lavo Jato (car wash) multi billion dollars bribery scandal in Brazil involving the state owned oil company, Petrobras, passed the information to media in Peru.
According to the sources, Odebrecht, if he cooperates fully, would be released after serving a minimum sentence.
Three other executives of the company have agreed to talk to avoid lengthy prison sentences.
Brazil prosecutors have sought to link politicians, including former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to the corruption cases. They have also been working with authorities from Switzerland to trace the money allegedly used to pay bribes through bank accounts controlled by the company in Panama.
Swiss authorities, have requested cooperation from Panama in their investigations surrounding Odebrecht following the arrest earlier this year of of Fernando Migliaccio the person who controlled bribery funds in Panama banks,
On March 22, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht, S.A. announced that it had decided to offer a “definitive collaboration with investigations” in Operation Lava Jato, after Brazilian Federal Police raided the offices and homes of dozens of directors.
Marcelo Odebrecht took several weeks negotiating an agreement but he finally decided to became part of an “informers’ reward” program to reduce his sentence.
Several other executives have made informer deals says Peruvian agency, IDL-Reporters.
Odebrecht was facing 19 years and 4 months in prison after being convicted of corruption, money laundering and racketeering.
A secretary of Odebrecht, Maria Lúcia Tavares part of the ” informer reward” program – helped the police to discover a department dedicated to irregular payments, housed in the bowels of the construction company.
The Brazilian Federal Police discovered that senior executives of Odebrecht operated a parallel accounting system called “Structured Operations Sector” to pay bribes.
With Marcelo Odebrecht’s unconditional cooperation to reduce his sentence, the former president of the Brazilian construction giant could leave jail next year, ashe has been in prison nearly a year.
The sources explained that the “informers” program could culminate in June. Prosecutors are trying to use through Marcelo Odebrecht to get to Brazilian his testimonies would save months of investigation .
One of the main targets of the research is undoubtedly the ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is suspected of using his prestige to lobby for Norberto Odebrecht.
But while Lula is a priority. no less important, reports La Prensa are the statements of Marcelo Odebrecht and executives who have agreed to cooperate in investigating around illegal operations of paying bribes outside Brazil.
This would imply revealing foreign politicians who allegedly received bribes, hidden through sophisticated and complex schemes, whose end was money laundering. The money ended up in bank accounts in the name of offshore companies abroad, as was the case of Petrobras exejecutives who received dirty money in Switzerland, but with a stopover in Panama.
The bank accounts of these characters were fed funds from the Panamanian company Constructora del Sur, SA, a company that prosecutors in Brazil say was not only controlled by Odebrecht, but was used in laundering schemes for the payment of bribes.
Prosecutors have identified at least two banks that worked with this company in Panama: Credicorp and Multicredit Bank.
In March 2015 yearBrazil requested Panama’s cooperation on bank accounts managed by Constructora Internacional del Sur, S.A.
While Brazil received assistance provided from nearly 30 countries, Brazilian prosecutors have complained that the only obstacle has been Panama.
Now Swiss authorities have opened their own investigation into the Panama links and have
Panama, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein and Brazil for information about the final destination of millions of dollars deposited in numbered accounts of offshore companies linked to Odebrecht.
The request is linked to the arrest on February 17 of Fernando Migliaccio da Silva, identified by prosecutors as one of Odebrecht executives who had control over bank account Constructora Internacional del Sur, SA Credicorp Bank, No. 4010177279.
Odebrecht moved Migliaccio da Silva with his family to the United States, in June 2015, during the fourth phase of Operation Lava Jato, which led Marcelo Odebrecht to jail.
Odebrecht executive also controlled accounts Klienfeld Services, Ltd., which received funding from companies that fueled -through Odebrecht Panama- bank accounts in Switzerland belonging to Petrobras executives bribed by Odebrecht reports La Prensa.
