Tentacles of Odebrecht graft stretch across Latin America

As Latin America’s biggest construction company, Odebrecht SA became a major player in Brazil’s development at home and abroad – until a huge corruption scandal linking it to politicians all across the region.

It has now claimed its highest-ranking politician, Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who announced his resignation on Wednesday, a day before he faced an impeachment vote he seemed certain to lose.

The Brazilian engineering and cons- truction firm has admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes in several Latin American countries to secure public works contracts.

But Kuczynski is not alone in Peru: former president Ollanta Humala has been remanded in custody, accused of receiving US$3 million from Odebrecht to fund his political campaigns. Another former president, Alejandro Toledo, is facing extradition from the United States, suspected of receiving US$20 million in kickbacks.

Ecuador’s vice-president, Jorge Glas, was sentenced to six years in prison in December for receiving US$13.5million in kickbacks. He was formally stripped of his office by Congress in January. Glas, 48, had been remanded in custody since October, after his immunity was lifted by Congress, although he was allowed to remain vice-president.

Investiga t ion sandcourtc asesare al so under way elsewhere in the region. In December 2016, the US Justice Department announced that Odebrecht SA and its petrochemical joint venture Braskemwouldpa ya US$3.5-billion fine – a record in international corruption cases – after admitting to paying US$788mill ion inbrib es in12countri es.

In Brazil, testimony from the firm’s ex-jailed CEO Marcelo Odebrecht has implicated President Michel Temer and many of the country’s top politicians.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces a sentence of 12 years behind bars after being convicted on charges uncovered through the massive graft scandal. A court in Porto Alegre is to rule next week on his appeal.