Prosecutor back from Brazil with Odebrecht files

DOCUMENTS  related to the Odebrecht scandal delivered to anti-corruption prosecutor Zuleyka Moore by Brazilian authorities are being translated at The Public Ministry (MP). Among them is a statement by André Rabello, head of the Odebrecht company in Panama.

Public Ministry sources confirmed to La Prensa that Moore returned to the country on Friday, and the evidential material obtained in Brazil only has value if it is in Spanish and authenticated by the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

Moore traveled with a team of anti-corruption prosecutors,  to get a statement from Rabello, who is accused in the investigation for alleged money laundering through bribes on behalf of Odebrecht.

Besides Rabello, the Brazilians Olivio Rodríguez Júnior, Paulo Roberto Costa, Pedro José Barusco Filho, Renato Duque Sousa, Joao Santana, Mónica Moura and André Paranáare involved.

Alsonamed are Miguel Sanchis López, Luis E. Montaño, Amado Barahona, Humberto De Leon, Eduardo Lucio Patrao, Juan Carlos Rosas, Mary Rosa Molino, Óscar Salazar and the ex-CD presidential candidate José Domingo Arias.

Arias has appeared before the prosecution four times to give details of the donations received by his electoral campaign in 2014.

Ricardo Patrao and Humberto De León, formerly of Credicorp Bank, have also been questioned.

Joao Santana and his wife Mónica Moura stated in Brazil that former president Ricardo Martinelli paid them for the electoral campaign, and Odebrecht would contribute $16 million dollars and Democratic Change $4.5 million dollars.

Moura said that Martinelli himself gave him $500,00 in cash in the Palacio de las Garzas.

In  public statements, Arias has said that he did not receive funds from Odebrecht.

Unlike the rest of the candidates (Juan Carlos Varela and Juan Carlos Navarro), Arias has refused to make the list of donors public.

In a statement released Saturday, Odebrecht apologized for the acts committed and reiterated the decision to strengthen the transparency of its actions. The statement also details that the company has established a new commitment to control and compliance with its business activities, already under way in Panama.

It claims that structural changes have been made with the application of rules to combat corruption.