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Peru Prosecutor: Odebrecht has acknowledged illegal payments for Southern Gas Pipeline

Photo: AFP

13:21 | Curitiba (Brazil), Jul. 10.

Peru's Lava Jato Case Special Prosecution Group Coordinator Rafael Vela has affirmed Brazilian construction company Odebrecht admitted —in a signed document— the illegal payments made for the Southern Gas Pipeline (Gasoducto del Sur) Project.

"Within the framework of the effective collaboration, we rely on a signed document, in which Odebrecht recognizes the illegal payments. For us, that determines its guilt with regard to the current investigation on the specific (Southern Gas) Pipeline case," the prosecutor expressed.

Likewise, Vela indicated this acknowledgment from the corporation would not require the signing of an addendum to the collaboration agreement —inked between Odebrecht and the Peruvian State months ago— as the accord is "flexible, progressive, and open."

"It (the agreement) allows the possibility of including new facts, starting with the acknowledgement of the effective collaborator, which should always be voluntary," he said.

Furthermore, the magistrate insisted the accord must be made public. However, he pointed out the decision depends on the Judiciary, as this institution standardized it.

Concerning the above-mentioned case, Prosecutor Geovanna Mori has recently led an operation to raid the home of former First Lady Nadine Heredia —wife of ex-President Ollanta Humala— in Lima, as well as those of other 25 people involved in the investigation.

Oas and Ex-Lima Mayor Castañeda

Regarding the interrogation of OAS construction company's ex-Chairman Leo Pinheiro, Vela expressed he is pleased with Pinheiro's answers, noting these confirm the hypothesis of the Prosecutor's Office, which indicates ex-Lima Mayor Luis Castañeda (2003-2010; 2015-2018) had received money from OAS for his campaign in 2014.

On July 5, Peru's Judiciary ordered an 18-month travel ban against former Lima Mayor Castañeda, within the framework of an investigation related to alleged corruption offenses with OAS. The other five people involved in the case are also prohibited from leaving Peru.

Finally, the prosecutor informed there will not be any further interrogations of Pinheiro, and the new information will be included in the document.

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) EGZ/RMCH/DTK/MVB

Published: 7/10/2019

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