Odebrecht paid $59 million in bribes to Panama in Martinelli era
BETWEEN 2010 and 2014, under the Ricardo Martinelli regime the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht paid $59 million in bribes to senior officials in the government of Panama to secure public works contracts.
The information comes from documents released by the Court of the Eastern District of New York.
“Between 2010 and 2014, Odebrecht made $59 million in corrupt payments to officials of the government and intermediaries who worked for them to secure the award of public infrastructure contracts,” say the documents.
“Odebrecht received more than $175 million in benefits from these contracts as a result of these bribes,” the statement said.
Between 2009 and 2012 Odebrecht paid $6 million to two relatives of a high level government official, to ensure contracts.
At least $6 million was paid according to the records of the Southern District Court of New York through the Odebrecht Structured Payments Division, which made payments to companies established in offshore jurisdictions, following instructions from Panamanian officials and their intermediaries.
The company, which is collaborating with authorities, has admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law dating to 1977 that penalizes companies that pay bribes to officials of other governments.
Official documents do not specify the names of those who received the benefits.
US Attorney Robert L. Capers noted that the court rulings released on Wednesday, December 21 are the result of an “extraordinary international effort to identify, investigate and prosecute a highly complex and longlasting corruption scheme based on payments by the defendant companies of about $1 billion in bribes to officials of all levels of government in many countries.”
“By attempting to conceal their crimes, the denounced companies used the global financial system including the banking system in the United Statesto disguise the source and disbursement of bribery payments by passing funds through a series of fictional companies,” Capers added.
Odebrecht signed a global agreement with the Public Ministry of Switzerland, the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office of Brazil, in which it pledged to pay $2 billion in fines.
The fine will bring criminal investigations to a close against the company in Switzerland and the U.S.
According to the documents, Odebrecht paid bribes totaling $788 million to senior officials in 12 countries. These are: Angola ($50 million), Argentina ($35 million), Brazil ($349 million), Colombia ($11 million), the Dominican Republic ($92 million), Guatemala ($18 million), Ecuador ($33.5 million), México ($10.5 million), Panamá ($59 million), Perú ($29 million) and Venezuela ($98 million).
