A general view of the headquarters of Odebrecht, a large private Brazilian construction firm, in Lima, Peru, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Janine Costa
LIMA The office of Peru's attorney general announced on Monday that it has asked Odebrecht for a "significant sum" of money upfront as part of talks toward a plea deal, after the Brazilian company acknowledged distributing bribes to unnamed Peruvian officials.
A final sum in compensation for any crimes committed in Peru would be negotiated with the company after it makes the initial deposit, stated Hamilton Castro, the lead prosecutor investigating Odebrecht.
Late last month Odebrecht, at the center of Brazil's biggest ever graft scandal, signed a plea deal in the United States in which it admitted to distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to secure public work contracts in several countries in Latin America, including $29 million in Peru between about 2005 and 2014.
Castro, who traveled to Switzerland to talk with prosecutors about Odebrecht last year, stated he expects prosecutors abroad to provide the names of Peruvian officials who took bribes from Odebrecht in coming months.
Odebrecht, a family-owned conglomerate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Reuters