Car Wash Operation Is an Example for the World, Says Ex-FBI Agent

02/08/2018 - 10h28

Seen from Brazil, the Car Wash (Lava Jato) operation resembles a tiger gradually losing its teeth. However, this is not the perspective from the point of view of the U.S.

"What is occurring in Brazil is changing the way we see business and corruption all across the world," says George Ren McEachern, 44, a former member of the FBI International Corruption Squad.

"An explosion is necessary for something like this to happen. However, when the explosion does occur, you have complex investigations against very clever organizations. And the explosion alone is not enough. You need a lot of continuous energy, from strategy. The courts in Curitiba sent out the message that Brazil is becoming clean," says McEachern.

He is now working in companies' ethics and compliance departments - he says he is optimistic about the future of the companies investigated and that of the country as well.

The investigation of corruption could cost jobs, "but, in the long term, it generates a lot more sustainable businesses," McEachern said during a visit to São Paulo, where he participated in an event of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

"You have to carry out investigations around the executives who manage the construction, sign the contracts and control the money. You also have to do the same with the people who have relationships with the companies hired by the company responsible for the construction because there may be conflicts of interest and these conflicts are unacceptable," said McEachern.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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	Rafael Roncato/Folhapress
	George "Ren" McEachern, former member of the FBI International Corruption Squad