Page 12 - CORRUPTION LATAM

MONTT GROUP MAGAZINE - 2024
www.MONTTGROUP.cOM
Petrobras. It was proven that this group obtained arranged contracts with the oil company, inflated the values and distributed the profits between directors of the state organization and political parties that supported the practice and legislated in favour of these companies.
The corruption network was systematically dedicated to diverting public funds, fixing contracts and paying bribes. Those involved transferred large sums of money abroad to the point that between 2004 and 2014 they illegally appropriated some US$2 billion.
At the same time, Petrobras was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, since the oil corporation had shares on the Wall Street Stock Exchange. As a result of both investigations, those of the SEC and Judge Moro, a list of 747 works already carried out by 170 companies was discovered, the majority developed in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay.
in recent months and Weeks Lava Jato has been faLLing apart, With some decisions handed doWn by different Judges. many fear that this is a Way to definitiveLy bury the case that Led to prison the current president, Luiz inácio LuLa da siLva, and dozens of other peopLe, presidents and businessmen, Who LittLe by LittLe see their sentences annuLLed or compLaints fiLed.
political earthquake
After the scandal became public, a political earthquake occurred that seriously affected the government of President Dilma Rousseff and that also involved the current President of Brazil, Lula da Silva; four former ministers of state; the treasurer of the Workers’ Party and the coordinator of Rousseff’s electoral campaign in 2010. Between 2003 and 2010, she headed the Board of Directors when some of the most brazen operations in the case were approved and executed. The Head of State kept the directors committed to the corruption plot at Petrobras and also tried to interfere in the progress of the investigation. A senator accused her, bluntly, of knowing about the existence of the money diversion scheme.
Under these conditions, the Brazilian Senate ended up dismissing Dilma Rousseff, so she had to leave office for the rest of her term. The charge against her was that she manipulated the federal budget in an attempt to hide the nation’s growing economic problems amid corruption scandals and weak government responses to the nationalsituation.
Lula da Silva was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for passive corruption and money laundering for accepting bribes of US$1.1 million from the construction company OAS, one of the companies involved in the Petrobras scandal. . Finally, Odebrecht had to acknowledge these facts before the United States Department of Justice, and agree to pay a fine of US$3.5 billion to three countries: the United States, Switzerland and Brazil, applying the law established by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued by the United States Congress in 1977 as a result of the Watergate scandal. The main objective of this rule was to establish parameters so that American businessmen would act correctly in their relationships abroad.
burying Lava jato
Once the main part of the process was over, the former judge in charge of the investigation, Sergio Moro, described Operation Lava Jato as a game changer to install and improve anti- corruption compliance in Brazil. Moro, who is currently Managing Director of the company Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations, perceives “a new spirit in Brazilian companies regarding integrity policies,” because before, in his opinion, organizations used to deny their responsibility for crimes. and few of them attempted to cooperate with authorities in their investigations. According to Moro, today in Brazil the trend towards corporate integrity programs is increasingly important.
However, despite everything previously achieved by Brazilian and North American justice, in recent months and weeks this emblematic case has been falling apart with some decisions handed down by different judges. Many fear that this is a way to definitively bury the case that led
päG :12
www.monttgroup.com