Post by anenro on Sept 9, 2019 17:10:17 GMT 4
Odebrecht Ordered to Pay Charity Because it Paid Bribes
Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA agreed to pay US$50 million to NGO and charities as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that its subsidiary bribed public officials in two projects financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the IDB Group, which is the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Odebrecht, according to the deal, committed to start making contributions as of 2024 directly to “NGOs and charities managing social projects with the purpose of improving the quality of life of vulnerable communities,” in the developing IDB’s member countries.
The decision was announced following “an extensive investigation by the IDB Office of Institutional Integrity (OII), with the cooperation of the Brazilian company.”
The probe uncovered that bribes were paid in two IDB-financed projects – a Hydroelectric Power Plant Program in Venezuela and a Highway Rehabilitation Program in the State of São Paulo in Brazil.
The illicit payments amounted to upward of 5-6% of each contract amount, including amendments. Between 2006 and 2008, Odebrecht’s subsidiary CNO “paid government officials some US$380,000” in bribes for the Highway Rehabilitation Program, IDB said.
Evidence in the case of Venezuela’s Tocoma Power Plant indicated illicit payments and transactions of up to US$118 million between 2007 and 2015, conducted through a “complex network of agents and offshore payment schemes.”
COMMENT: Unfortunately, all of us, in the International trade business, are constantly faced with this problem. If we wish to conduct business in any country, a bribe is demanded by the governing parties.
Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA agreed to pay US$50 million to NGO and charities as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that its subsidiary bribed public officials in two projects financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the IDB Group, which is the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Odebrecht, according to the deal, committed to start making contributions as of 2024 directly to “NGOs and charities managing social projects with the purpose of improving the quality of life of vulnerable communities,” in the developing IDB’s member countries.
The decision was announced following “an extensive investigation by the IDB Office of Institutional Integrity (OII), with the cooperation of the Brazilian company.”
The probe uncovered that bribes were paid in two IDB-financed projects – a Hydroelectric Power Plant Program in Venezuela and a Highway Rehabilitation Program in the State of São Paulo in Brazil.
The illicit payments amounted to upward of 5-6% of each contract amount, including amendments. Between 2006 and 2008, Odebrecht’s subsidiary CNO “paid government officials some US$380,000” in bribes for the Highway Rehabilitation Program, IDB said.
Evidence in the case of Venezuela’s Tocoma Power Plant indicated illicit payments and transactions of up to US$118 million between 2007 and 2015, conducted through a “complex network of agents and offshore payment schemes.”
COMMENT: Unfortunately, all of us, in the International trade business, are constantly faced with this problem. If we wish to conduct business in any country, a bribe is demanded by the governing parties.