Panama-Brazil cooperating in Odebrecht probe
AFTER eighteen months of crossed wires and stalling, Panama’s Public Ministry (MP) has agreed to cooperate with Brazil on the Lava Jato (car wash) case that involves construction company Odebrecht.
The MP its website site that Attorney General Kenia Porcell and her Brazilian counterpart Rodrigo Janot have begun “a new stage in international legal cooperation” between the two countries.
According to the MP, the meeting between the two top prosecutors took place October 11 during a conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
“The purpose of the meeting was to give a continuity to the talks initiated by the teamthat visited Brasilia and Curitiba to discuss the legal assistance requests filed by Brazil in the Lava Jato case,” said a press release about the meeting.
In March 2015, prosecutors in Brazil requested the cooperation of Porcell in obtaining information about transactions related to Constructora Internacional del Sur, S.A., a company linked to Odebrecht that has bank accounts in Panama.
Brazilian prosecutors allege those accounts were used to pay bribes to government officials in exchange for contracts.
Panama said the request was not specific enough, a charge Brazilian officials have denied.
Odebrecht contracts
Odebrecht, whose former president was jailed for nearly 10 years, was beneficiary of over $9 billion in contracts from Panama governments and is currently building Metro Line 3, The Tocumen Airport expansion, and a $500 million re-delopment project in Colon. It is also working on a street renewal project for Panama City and is bidding to construct the $1 billion fourth bridge over the Panama Canal.
