Panama asks US aid in Odebrecht bribery probe

PANAMA  has asked for  legal assistance from the United States to investigate the $89  million in bribes paid by the Brazilian company Odebrecht to Panamanian officials between 2010­ and 2014 says the Attorney General,

The request was made at the end of the day of meetings held in Washington between a delegation from Panama and officials of the United States Department of Justice and prosecutors from New York.

The Panamanian delegation, which returned to the country Friday, was led by the deputy secretary general of the Public Ministry, David Díaz.

Odebrecht admitted paying $788 million to officials from a dozen countries in exchange

for public contracts. Of that amount, $59 million was paid in Panama.

The meetings provided information “of high complexity,” officials said “Both groups maintained a significant exchange of information extracted from investigations concerning alleged bribery and use of financial institutions in Panama which will contribute to the improved conduct of investigations conducted by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for The Odebrecht case,” said the Attorney General’s Office in a press release.

This week, a delegation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office also went to Ecuador, to learn about Odebrecht’s bribes. This group was led by Javier Caraballo, second prosecutor against organized crime reports La Prensa.