Construction Firm Odebrecht Signs Leniency Agreement with Lava Jato Prosecutors

12/02/2016 - 12h11

On Thursday (the 1st) construction firm Odebrecht struck a deal with Lava Jato prosecutors by signing a leniency agreement, a type of plea bargain for judicial persons.

Having reached an agreement, the firm's 77 executives - among them Marcelo Odebrecht, the heir of the company - started signing plea bargains in Brasília on Thursday.

According to sources who were involved in the negotiations, most of them have already officially adhered to the agreements.

The leniency agreement allows the construction firm to continue doing business with the public sector while also removing legal clauses that hamper loans from financial institutions.

The agreement stipulates that the firm will pay a fine in the amount of R$ 6.7 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) over the course of 20 years, including the amount owed by Brasken.

The money will be split between Brazil - which will receive at least 70% of the total amount - the US and Switzerland.

As Folha had reported last week, Brazilian investigators as well as the firm's lawyers had hoped to reach an agreement last week, although a lack of a consensus regarding how much money should go to the United States led to delays.

American authorities demanded an additional US$ 50 million on top of the original offer, as well as other factors regarding payment, such as the amount to be paid during the first year of the agreement.

Among the politicians mentioned during the preliminary stages of the investigation are president Michel Temer (PMDB), former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Dilma Rousseff (PT), the current minister of Foreign Affairs José Serra (PSDB) as well as governors, congressmen and senators.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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