New opportunities for tainted contractor
The besmirched Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which confessed to paying scores of millions in bribes to obtain previous contracts is back on the bid list of the Panama Government.
The company, which paid the bribes between 2010 and 2014, during the Martinelli administration has participated in the pre-bid meetings for the extension of Metro line 1 to Villa Zaíta and Metro line 2 to Tocumen International Airport.
The deliveries of proposals for the two contracts are scheduled for September and October and the government ruled that the company would no longer have any legal impediment to bid.
Odebrecht had already submitted unsuccessful proposals for Ministry of Public Works (MOP) contracts says La Prensa.
In December 2016, the Executive prohibited the participation of Odebrecht in tenders until the company collaborated in the investigations that followed the corruption cases, a condition that would have been met with the signing in July 2017 of an agreement between Odebrecht and the MOP, which included a $220 million fine to the company
In an official letter dated January 19, the twelfth criminal judge, Óscar Carrasquilla, said that In the collaboration agreement, the company was not disqualified from future bidding.