Panama defends laggard action in Odebrecht linked corruption probe

BRAZIL’S   long delayed request to Panama for assistance in its Lava Jato corruption investigation and possible links to the Odebrecht company, benefactor of billions of dollars in government contractors, has finally been answered.

Attorney General Kenia Porcell said on TVN News on Tuesday August 9 that Panama will cooperate with Brazil

“To say that Panama has not cooperated is not consistent with reality,” she said.

Porcell’s reaction followed  statements from Brazilian prosecutors who said on several occasions that Panama has not cooperated.

Porcell said the request from Brazil was a “very broad and generic” request, and that Panama asked officials to be more specific.

While unable to comment specifically, she said that the request from Brazil asked for information about accounts that span several years.

“We cannot respond to such a generic request,” she said.

The request was focused on the account of an offshore company at  Multibank and Credicorp Bank that was allegedly used by Constructora Norberto Odebrecht to pay bribes with transfers to Swiss bank accounts