Federal prosecutors formally accused executives from Brazil’s top builders of participating in the country’s biggest corruption scandal in history.
Prosecutors on Friday accused Marcelo Odebrecht, chief executive officer of Odebrecht SA, and Otavio Marques de Azevedo, president of Andrade Gutierrez SA, with corruption, money laundering and forming a criminal organization.
Now a judge will decide whether to file charges against them. Odebrecht denies any illegal actions, company lawyer Marcos Verissimo told reporters in Sao Paulo following the prosecutor’s news conference. Andrade’s lawyers are studying the information presented Friday, which doesn’t appear to include any novel content, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
It has said in the past its executives are innocent. The probe is part of a more than yearlong investigation known as Car Wash. Prosecutors and police allege contractors formed a cartel to win bids at state-run Petrobras, giving kickbacks to executives at the oil producer and to politicians.
Friday’s accusations made against some of Brazil’s most powerful businessmen underscores the size and reach of the scandal, which has slowed construction and eroded investor confidence in Latin America’s largest economy.
Evidence presented for the first time Friday includes charges that Petrobras bought naphtha at above-market prices, selling it to a company that belongs to Odebrecht’s group for a discount. The state-run company allegedly lost 6 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in the transactions.
Petrobras’s press office has said in the past that the company was a victim of the corruption. It declined to comment on the latest accusations when contacted by phone Friday. Investigators also alleged Odebrecht paid 1 billion reais in bribes from money held in Swiss accounts.
Prosecutors are seeking compensation of 6.7 billion reais from Odebrecht and 486 million reais from Andrade Gutierrez, prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said in Curitiba, Brazil on Friday. Azevedo and Odebrecht have been in jail since mid-June on preventive detention.
bloomberg.com
Prosecutors on Friday accused Marcelo Odebrecht, chief executive officer of Odebrecht SA, and Otavio Marques de Azevedo, president of Andrade Gutierrez SA, with corruption, money laundering and forming a criminal organization.
Now a judge will decide whether to file charges against them. Odebrecht denies any illegal actions, company lawyer Marcos Verissimo told reporters in Sao Paulo following the prosecutor’s news conference. Andrade’s lawyers are studying the information presented Friday, which doesn’t appear to include any novel content, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
It has said in the past its executives are innocent. The probe is part of a more than yearlong investigation known as Car Wash. Prosecutors and police allege contractors formed a cartel to win bids at state-run Petrobras, giving kickbacks to executives at the oil producer and to politicians.
Friday’s accusations made against some of Brazil’s most powerful businessmen underscores the size and reach of the scandal, which has slowed construction and eroded investor confidence in Latin America’s largest economy.
Evidence presented for the first time Friday includes charges that Petrobras bought naphtha at above-market prices, selling it to a company that belongs to Odebrecht’s group for a discount. The state-run company allegedly lost 6 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in the transactions.
Petrobras’s press office has said in the past that the company was a victim of the corruption. It declined to comment on the latest accusations when contacted by phone Friday. Investigators also alleged Odebrecht paid 1 billion reais in bribes from money held in Swiss accounts.
Prosecutors are seeking compensation of 6.7 billion reais from Odebrecht and 486 million reais from Andrade Gutierrez, prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said in Curitiba, Brazil on Friday. Azevedo and Odebrecht have been in jail since mid-June on preventive detention.
bloomberg.com
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