Odebrecht to pay $2.6 bn in bribery fines

WASHINGTON: Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht agreed to pay fines of at least $2.6 billion to US, Brazilian and Swiss authorities in what Washington called the largest foreign bribery case in history.

The US Justice Department said the conglomerate pleaded guilty to paying hundreds of millions of dollars to bribe government officials in countries on three continents. In the same case, Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem will pay a combined total of $957 million to the three countries in criminal and regulatory penalties, the statement said.

“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit — a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak — that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh said in a statement.

“Such brazen wrongdoing calls for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a strong effort with our colleagues in Brazil and Switzerland, we have seen just that.”

According to its admissions, Odebrecht engaged in a massive and unparalleled bribery and bid-rigging scheme for more than a decade, beginning as early as 2001. During that time, Odebrecht paid approximately $788 million in bribes to government officials, their representatives and political parties in a number of countries in order to win business in those countries. — Reuters