Brazilian Probe Reveals Extent of Camargo Corrêa's Kickbacks in Latin American Countries

Operation Sandcastle was dismissed in Brazil but has been a treasure trove for attorney generals in other South American countries

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Lima

By Gonzalo Torrico and Milagros Salazar Herrera

Documents apprehended by the Brazilian Federal Police in 2009 during Operation Sandcastle (Operação Castelo de Areia) show that construction company Camargo Corrêa offered kickbacks and made hidden campaign donations in several countries in Latin America. These new findings open a new chapter for the transnational legal proceedings against the company.
 

Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia was implicated in documents from the Brazilian corruption probe - REUTERS


The most telling cases so far are in Peru, Argentina, Venezuela and Bolívia, where Camargo Corrêa developed big and expensive infrastructure projects, and also where the journalist network Investiga Lava Jato (Investigating Car Wash) has published several news articles.

Peru's case is emblematic. In June 2015, new site Convoca.pe brought the first documents regarding the country.

They contained notes of illegal payments related to the Interoceânica Sul highway between 20015 and 2008, during the terms of presidents Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) and Alan García (2006-2011). The documents allowed Peru's attorney general to start investigating Brazilian construction companies.

Argentinian authorities requested through a letter of formal notice to Brazil, to interrogate Antonio Miguel Marques, Camargo Corrêa's former CEO, about suspected kickbacks in contract deals with Aysa, an Argentinian federal water company.

In Venezuela, news sites El Pitazo e Runrun.es reported this week that since 2005 the company tried to gain the favor of both former president Hugo Chávez (through his brother Adán) and current president Nicolás Maduro, in order to win the bidding for the construction of the Tocoma dam.

In Bolívia, the first evidence of kickbacks from Camargo Corrêa was brought to light last April. Newspaper El Deber detailed payments of US$ 550,000 in a bidding to build a part of highway Roboré-El Carmen. So far, nobody has been convicted.

Despite Operation Sandcastle's dismissal in Brazil, the investigation is a treasure trove of information for the rest of Latin America, where Camargo Corrêa invested heavily.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV


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