Odebrecht owes Colombia US$119.6 million for acts of corruption

The Brazilian construction company formerly known as odebrecht owed to Colombia more than 494,000 million pesos (US$119.6 million) for the damages caused to the country in a network of corruption that included politicians, individuals and contributions to two presidential campaigns, the Attorney General’s Office denounced on Thursday.

Odebrecht has been at the center of the biggest corruption scandal in Latin America, after admitting in 2016 that it bribed officials in a dozen countries.

The company changed its name in 2020 to Novonor SA, a new brand after the corruption scandal. In Colombia, the firm paid some $30 million in bribes in exchange for infrastructure contracts, according to investigations by the Attorney General’s Office.

“These illicit money added to other corrupt payments allow us to affirm that the damages caused by Odebrecht to Colombia amount to more than 514 billion pesos, of which, due to the principle of opportunity, more than 19 billion pesos have been recovered”said a report from the investigating body.

“Which concludes that Odebrecht owes the State more than 494 billion pesos as a result of illegal activities”accurate.

The attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, said that 22 other people allegedly involved in the corruption acts of the Brazilian construction company were summoned to charge.

The official maintained that Odebrecht would have created a structured operations department, from where gifts were paid to achieve contracts, modifications to contractual clauses, intervention of subcontractors and the deviation of public budgets.

“With offers and delivery of money, they had the help of senior government officials such as ministers and directors of institutes, congressmen, public officials at different levels, lobbyists, contractors, and individuals, who carried out illegal actions that favored the multinational,” Barbosa assured in a press conference.

Odebrecht, in partnership with local firms, was in charge of building a 528-kilometer stretch of highway to the Caribbean coast, a contract worth more than $1 billion that it won by paying bribes, according to investigations by the prosecution.

The investigative body also reported that in 2014 there were contributions to the campaign of former President Juan Manuel Santos for 3,540 million pesos (US$857,000) and to that of his rival Óscar Iván Zuluaga for 3,045 million pesos (US$737,229).

Santos won his reelection in a runoff by defeating Zuluaga. The Colombian Attorney General’s Office has submitted 93 charges, of which only 20 have been made effective, the accusing body reported.

Source: Reuters