Corruption apology angers Brazilians
ENGINEERING conglomerate Odebrecht took out full-page ads in Brazil’s main newspapers on Friday to apologise to Brazilians for its involvement in the country’s biggest corruption scandal yet.
The apology by Latin America’s largest engineering firm was received with scepticism in a country with a history of political corruption and crony capitalism, and many Brazilians expressed their anger at the company on social media.
In a long-awaited leniency deal, the family-owned firm signed a 6.7-billion real (about R27-billion) agreement with prosecutors on Thursday admitting guilt and offering information on bribes paid.
More than 70 of its executives, including founding patriarch Marcelo Odebrecht and his jailed son and former CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, have agreed to make plea statements.
The deal will allow Odebrecht to return to bidding for public-works projects from which it was banned for its role, along with other engineering companies, in the massive bribe and kickbacks scheme centred on state-run oil company Petrobras.
The deal also has Brazil’s political establishment on edge as plea statements are expected to name as many as 200 politicians who allegedly received bribes.
Prosecutors said Odebrecht had an office dedicated to paying bribes.
“Odebrecht recognises that it took part in improper practices . . . we connived with such practices and did not fight them . . . It was a big mistake,” the company said in its ad, vowing to mend its ways.
The leniency deal, which spreads the fine payment over 20 years, will give Odebrecht a financial breather and help it restructure debt-burdened businesses and revive a shrinking pipeline of projects at its flagship engineering unit.
Some Brazilians were not so forgiving.
“No, you committed crimes! They were not mistakes! I won’t forgive them! They helped dilapidate the country. They should pay,” Vicki Nox (@VickiNox) tweeted.
“How many hospitals, homes, ambulances can be bought with ‘Sorry, we made a mistake’?” tweeted Laiza Galvão (@LaizaGalvao).
The political fallout from the Odebrecht bargain for the scandal-plagued JAIL: Former Odebrecht CEO Marcelo Odebrecht government of President Michel Temer has yet to be felt, but the deal is expected to provide evidence implicating numerous members of his ruling PMDB party. — Reuters
How many hospitals, homes, can be bought with ‘Sorry, we made a mistake’?