Lessons  learned from Odebrecht

Odebrecht has been suffering defeat after defeat. The most recent is that the authorities denied his request to stop the enforcement of the $229 million performance bond for violating the construction contract for the new Tocumen airport terminal. Odebrecht was also unable to avoid being disqualified, for three years, from contracting with the State, an order contained in a resolution of September 2021, which annulled the aforementioned 2012 contract, nor was it able to avoid stopping the collection of a $415,000 fine that it ordered the same resolution. The company, once all-powerful, must deal with these decisions that put it in financial trouble in Panama, considering that Odebrecht has not even been able to voluntarily comply with the payment –in installments– of a fine imposed by Panama of $220 million, after confessing its local crimes. . And these defeats are important because they send a clear message: what starts crooked ends badly, something that companies that currently make the same mistake as Odebrecht, distributing bribes to two hands, should learn. Hopefully, they get the message, as well as the officials who accept these bribes.- LA PRENSA, Jul. 10