Civil Society demands revision of Odebrecht contracts

Spokespersons of civil society are unanimous in their belief that there is no Odebrecht project in Panama, from the Cinta Costera to Panama Metro or the road works for the mayoralty in which the bribery activities of the company differed.

In the face of new published revelations, civil society demands full revision of the contracts.

“The Metro has never made or been aware of illegal payments that could have been made,” said Roberto Roy, director of the Panama Metro , before a leak from Odebrecht, which revealed that through this flagship work of the last two government administrations, massive bribes were paid in Panama.

In 13,000  documents of the system that was used for the communications of the Structured Operations Sector the company admitted that “it effectively functioned as a bribery department” in a statement, as part of its agreement guilt with the United States Department of Justice.

“The Metro of Panama only pays a monthly account according to the progress of the contracted work and does not know the subsequent use that the contractor makes of such payments … I have never received any payment from any contractor. Does not exist. They know me well, ” said Roy  in a weekend statement.

The published  revelations by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) , , were a surprise for the country, said Gabriel Tribaldos, of the Independent Movement (Movin), because “it has been repeatedly said that the Metro was far from corrupt transactions. “

Organized crime
In the case of the Metro, we cannot presume that there are projects in which the company acted differently and projects in which it did not act with its usual pattern of organized crime. We cannot think that we have sacred cows or that people are above doubt, “said Olga de Obaldía, director of the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty, Panamanian chapter of Transparency International.

Both Tribaldos and De Obaldía agreed that all that remains is for the authorities to review all contracts in the three administrations, so that there are no doubts. That the Public Prosecutor makes “a total sweep, that does not depend on the name [of the official] or the work, but that everyone is investigated,” De Obaldía said.

“There are no works in which Odebrecht has been a part and will act differently,” said Gustavo Adolfo Bernal, former president of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects. Since the award of the first project in Panama, the Remigio Rojas, to the sidewalks of Mayor Blandón, the costs are above reality, Bernal said.

In addition to bribes, “they [Odebrecht] are not saying the amount of money that a project will reasonably cost, which indicates that the costs in some cases doubled the values ​​to maintain profitability.

“The Metro could have cost us 30% to 40% less,”  He added that the bids for better value -as happened in the case of the Metro- are “the most direct source of corruption.

The documentation revealed that about nine people had received money from the Metro, whose identities remain hidden under nicknames. The most benefited were: Cachaza and Aguia, but also Canario, Rato Roeu, Ratatouille, Burger King, Salario and Peao.

The total of bribes paid for  Panamanian works, amounts to $73 million, between 2007 and 2014, according to the payroll, which does not include invoices issued to give legitimacy to some transactions nor transactions of erased documents

There are some coincidences regarding the nicknames says La Prensa. For example, the payments received through the companies Herzone Overseas and Ralfim Ltd. have the nickname of Alemao, and according to Brazilian and local informers, the beneficiary was former Minister of Economy Frank De Lima.

The nickname Cachaza is linked to societies of politicians of the Panameñista Party and WestfallHolding, linked to former Minister Jaime Ford,  who carries the nickname of Explorer in the spreadsheets of. Odebrecht’s secret messaging system.

$73 million is the conservative and proven amount of bribes in Panama in the spreadsheets. The figure does not include all the projects in which the company participated in Panama