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Eleven countries team up to jointly investigate Odebrecht corruption

Xinhua, February 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Officials from 11 countries have agreed in Brazil to carry out a joint investigation into the widespread Odebrecht bribery scandal, the Mexican prosecutor-general (PGR) announced Friday.

A statement announced that a meeting held Thursday saw representatives from attorney-general and prosecutor-general offices from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal, and Venezuela agree to team up.

The meeting was organized by Brazilian prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot and saw the signing of the Brasilia Declaration for International Judiciary Cooperation against Corruption, said the PGR.

The Declaration's eight points state that the 11 countries commit to the "broadest, fastest and most efficient" cooperation to investigate the bribes by the Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, to numerous officials.

Bilateral and multilateral teams will coordinate investigations, which began with Operation Lava Jato in Brazil, which has seen numerous executives and officials arrested and jailed.

In Mexico, authorities are investigating whether Odebrecht paid bribes to executives of Pemex, the national oil company, as the two entities signed various contracts.

Odebrecht's involvement in corruption across the region was blown wide open on Dec. 21 when the U.S. Department of Justice released information based on interviews with Odebrecht executives. According to this information, Mexican public officials received up to 10.5 million U.S. dollars in bribes.

One unnamed senior official at a Mexican state-owned company is alleged to have received 6 million U.S. dollars, but his identity or the company involved have not been released. Enditem