Odebrecht confesses to paying bribes in Ecuador

Marcelo Odebrecht. The firm that bears his surname, one of the world’s largest construction companies, paid $ 33.5 million in kickbacks in Ecuador, he said yesterday during his admission of guilt to the US Attorney’s Office where he is being prosecuted.

According to the words of the billionaire turned into an informer, illegal payments were made in Ecuador between 2007 and 2016 to obtain contracts for about 116 million dollars with the Government.

Information from the so-called Ordebrecht Report strips a 12-nation corruption network (including Ecuador) with more than $ 1 billion paid to public officials since 2001. The company has been fined $ 3,500 million because of this.

The company, which was expelled from Ecuador by President Rafael Correa in 2007 and received with millions of new contracts years later after a “repair agreement,” has been on the radar of corruption investigations for months.

Contracts in Ecuador

In 2008, the Brazilian firm Odebrecht had four contracts in Ecuador: the Baba Multipurpose Project, the Toachi-Pilaton hydroelectric plant, the Carrizal-Chone system and the Tena airport.

In May 2013, the construction of a pipeline and additional works for fuel transport in southern Ecuador were awarded to the Brazilian firm Norberto Odebrecht, according to a report of the state oil company Petroecuador.

Finished works

The construction firm Odebrecht states on its website that it began operations in Ecuador in 1987, with the building of the Santa Elena Water Transfer System in the province of Guayas.

– Ocipse (complementary works for the Santa Elena peninsula) to give access to potable water and sanitary sewage to 16 urban and rural populations of Guayas.

– Daule-Vinces Water Transfer System for the Daule River, 93 m³ / s

– Pacific Refinery, works for the future refinery.

– Manabi Water Transfer System, from La Esperanza dam, for water supply.