Andina

Lawyer: Odebrecht ordered payment to Peru's ex-President Garcia

00:00 | Curitiba (Brazil), Mar. 12.

Lawyer Jose Americo Spinola —who had acted as middleman for Odebrecht— affirmed he had signed a fictitious contract with Peru's former President Alan Garcia (2006-2011) in order to pay him US$100,000 for a lecture in Brazil in 2012.

During the interrogation before Peruvian Lava Jato Case Special Prosecution Group, Spinola informed that the Brazilian construction company had ordered the payment for the speech given by Garcia, investigative journalism site IDL-Reporteros revealed.

Likewise, he indicated that Marcos de Queiroz Grillo —who was part of the Division of Structured Operations (also known as Box Two)— had asked him to simulate the payment. They had held conversations by phone and through the Drousys system. 

Spinola also acknowledged the e-mails he had exchanged with Grillo concerning the simulated payment, and thus, he had charged a US$15,000 fee.

Through his law firm, Spinola had hired Garcia to give a lecture to the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo in 2012.


For his part, Alan Garcia has denied this accusation, claiming this payment had not been simulated or a bribe, and that he had paid the corresponding taxes in Brazil and Peru.

Odebrecht

As is known, the Brazilian construction giant admitted to having paid millions in bribes to government officials in Peru, in order to secure public-works contracts.

As a result, Odebrecht benefited from over US$143 million between 2005 and 2014 in Peru, according to the U.S. Justice Department. 

In addition, four ex-Presidents have been linked to the Brazilian company such as: Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), Alan Garcia (2006-2011), Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018)

Former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori —currently under preventive detention— also allegedly received money from Odebrecht for her 2011 campaign.

(END) VVS/CCR/DTK/MVB

Publicado: 12/3/2019