Panama pressured to hide sensitive Odebrecht info


THE BRAZILIAN  construction company Odebrecht exerted pressure in Panama to prevent sensitive information requested by Lava Jato prosecutors from being forwarded by the Public Ministry.

The revelation comes from Miglaccio Fernando Miglaccio, the firm’s chief financial operator who in a court confession  stated that a major financial operator, named Luiz Eduardo Soares, traveled to Panama “at least three times” to take charge “specifically on this matter” and that each time he returned to Brazil and informed Miglaccio of the results of the negotiations.

In particular, he explained that Odebrecht’s  superintendent in Panama, André Rabello, ” was pressuring the president of Panama not to send the information requested by Brazil.”

It is not clear which president Miglaccio was referring to says La Prensa.

Brazil prosecutors requested the information in 2014, when the government changed.

Brazilian prosecutors have been pressing Panama’s current adminstration to send information on the accounts of Constructora Internacional del Sur, an Odebrecht­controlled company from which multi­million dollar payments were made to Petrobras officials.

Panama is now cooperating with Brazilian prosecutors.