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Peru Judiciary: Collaboration agreement with Odebrecht is ideal, necessary, proportional

Photo: AFP

11:31 | Lima, Jul. 16.

Peru's Judiciary approved the collaboration agreement the Public Ministry signed with Brazilian Odebrecht, as this process is considered to be ideal, necessary, and proportional in order to find a penalty for the people responsible of having committed offenses against the Peruvian State, as well as a fair civil reparations amount for the damages caused.

The abovementioned conclusion appears in the verdict issued by Judge Maria de los Angeles Alvarez —Head of the Preparatory Investigation Court for Corruption Offenses Committed by Public Officials — who declared the accord has been approved, according to La Republica newspaper.

Based on the document, the collaboration process with Odebrecht is ideal, as the information gathered pointed out the four projects that have been acknowledged —as having involved corruption acts— by the foreign company.

Likewise, it indicates that is necessary, because —without that information— it would have not been possible to find the specific data on the crimes committed or, in any case, it would have been more difficult to carry out the investigation.

Finally, the accord is considered to be proportional, as the agreement has enabled to harmonize, on the one hand, the State's public persecution of the offenses committed, and on the other hand, the purpose of the collaboration process.

Therefore, the Judge delivered her approval following 16 private hearings held between April and May 2019, and after having read 156,178 pages on the subject.

Odebrecht

In mid-February, Peru's Lava Jato Case Special Prosecution Group signed the long-awaited collaboration agreement with Odebrecht representatives and former employees in Brazil. The accord did not include the Southern Gas Pipeline project.

This deal was intended to procure evidence and testimonies for the investigation of corruption cases in the Andean nation.

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— allegedly received money from Odebrecht for her 2011 campaign.

Ex Lima Mayor Susana Villaran also admitted that Odebrecht and OAS had financed an anti-recall campaign during her tenure between 2011 and 2014. She currently serves a 24-month preventive detention.

(END) CCR/DTK/MVB

Publicado: 16/7/2019