Bank owners deny Odebrecht links
THE COMPANY that owns FPB Bank, reported to be a key player in the Odebrecht/LavaJato bribery scandal, has denied any link with the Brazilian construction company.
Alfa International Ltd., Inc., which said it owns 100 percent of the shares of FPB Bank, Inc., has issued a statement denying any link with Odebrecht and related companies in Brazil, Panama or any other part of the world, reports La Prensa.
The statement says: “We categorically deny that any of the companies related to Alfa International have been involved in any way for the execution of activities related to the Lava Jato investigation.”
The bank’s owner denied that federal prosecutors in Brazil have linked or found evidence that Alfa International or FPB Bank were engaged in any illegal activities in that country.
The statement added that the reference to these links “appeared in biased national media” and said that none of its companies, employees or board members are facnig any criminal proceedings in Brazil.
Referring to the decision by the Superintendency of Banks to intervene in the bank’s management, which came at the same time that the bank’s alleged links to illegal activities were published, the company said it “recently authorized a voluntary liquidation of its subsidiary and requested the intervention from the regulator in response to changes in the group’s strategy. Nevertheless, we want to ensure that the financial situation of its subsidiary is positive and at no time will the interests of customers be undermined.”
La Prensa which first reported the story says it has never identified the owner of the bank but It did cite documents from prosecutors in Brazil that outlined the connection between the bank and the Lava Jato investigation in Brazil.
La Prensa carried copies of the documents in the Feb 15 edition.
The bank, according to the documents, was the target of the investigation in phase 32 of the Lava Jato operation. According to a story in Brazilian media, police investigated the bank and the main target of the operation was Edson Paulo Fanton, who police identified as the representative of FPB Bank who allegedly acted clandestinely in Brazil.
According to the investigation, FPB Bank has not been authorized by the Brazilian Central Bank to operate in that country and acted “with the objective of moving accounts in the national territory and thus enable the flow of securities of doubtful origin outside the national financial system.”
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, says it used the services of the Panama firm Mossack Fonseca, which created offshore companies for their clients, as a way of hiding the real owners of the money, as well as the origin of the bribes that were paid in exchange for contracts with Petrobras.
“As part of the investigation into people and companies as part of the Lava Jato operation, it was possible to conclude that the resources illegally removed from Petrobras may have been transited by the financial institution investigated,” the Brazilian media quoted police as saying.
“The operators of the Panamanian bank in Brazil, in addition to acting clandestinely, guaranteed anonymity to their clients.
