on Thursday confirmed the existence of the Construction Club, adding the Brazilian corporation was part of this group composed of companies that paid bribes to gain projects in the Inca country.
According to Peruvian Prosecutor German Juarez, today's interrogation was shorter than the previous ones, as it addressed specific questions aimed at corroborating the information provided by other Odebrecht officers.
"In general, he has mentioned some of the companies that belonged to the Construction Club, he even indicated that Odebrecht had been part of this group, too," the magistrate expressed.
Earlier,
IDL-Reporteros informed Barata said during the interrogation that the "Construction Club had always existed."
Juarez went on to add the former officer only stated what he knew —for sure— about this club, since he had not been the Odebrecht superintendent in Peru the whole time.
"The ones, who have seen this matter closer, were officers Renato Ribeiro Bortoletti and Ricardo Boleiro. On this occasion, Barata merely talked about the period of time in which he had been in charge (of the branch based in Peru)," the Prosecutor said.
Collaboration agreement
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.
(END) CVC/JCC/DTK/MVB