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Panama prohibited Odebrecht from participating in new tenders for public works in the country until the Brazilian construction company returns the embezzled money.
Panama's Attorney General Eduardo Ulloa announced last Tuesday that he will sue Odebrecht for failing to pay part of the $220 million fine that was established in an agreement signed as part of the investigation into bribes paid by the company in exchange for public contracts. . Odebrecht loses control of Atvos, one of the largest ethanol producers in Brazil, in court
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In July 2017, the Panamanian Attorney General's Office and Odebrecht signed an agreement in which the company committed to paying a fine of 220 million dollars within 12 years, which was validated by a Panamanian court.
In an “initial analysis” carried out by the Public Ministry (MP-Prosecution), it was “concluded that the company Odebrecht did not comply with the agreement and did not pay its share in the years 2019 and 2020”, said the head of the judicial institution.
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“For this reason, anti-corruption prosecutors are already requesting the corresponding hearing to demand that the company comply with the agreement in court,” he added.
Ulloa also said that in the coming weeks the tax hearing of the construction company's case will be handed over to the courts, something that was scheduled for last December but was not possible because the pandemic delayed the preparation of the files, he explained.
Odebrecht sources explained to Efe that the Panamanian state owes this company 108 million dollars to pay for the works it is currently carrying out, while the portion of the fine claimed by the attorney general is 18 million dollars.
The same sources assured that they had recently established formal contacts with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama so that those 18 million dollars could be deducted from the 108 million dollars owed to Odebrecht.
About the Odebrecht corruption and bribery case in Panama
The investigation into the Odebrecht case in Panama was completed in October 2020 with a hundred defendants, but no convictions so far.
Among those accused of the crime of money laundering in the Odebrecht case are former presidents Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), accused of collecting bribes from the company, and former president Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019), accused of receiving funding construction company for its electoral campaigns.
The Panama chapter of Transparency International (TI) indicated in a document that relatives of the former presidents, several former ministers of state and former officials of the governments of Varela, Martinelli and Martín Torrijos (2004-2009) are also accused.
He also warned that the trial could last for years, given the number of defendants and their lawyers, around 180 people, which would make the notification process and holding the preliminary hearing complex, requiring the presence of all those involved. (I)
See below the amounts paid in bribes by Odebrecht in Latin America
