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Odebrecht used 3 links to reach the political power
Posted On 06 Nov 2017
Ecuadornews:
This could be the story of how the eagle’s eggs were stolen. It all begins in the first pages of the file on the network that favored Odebrecht with millionaire State contracts. The investigators plotted a map of relations of the construction company in the country. The inquiries led them to Carlos Pareja Cordero, also known as ‘Capaco,’ a lawyer with ties to the most influential political and economic circle in Guayaquil.
The hypothesis is that Odebrecht paid him more than $ 6 million since 2010. The development of the investigation reflected that part of that money ($ 1.9 million) was the payment for his legal advice services to the Paresoci firm. For four years, Carlos Pareja Cordero was one of the trusted lawyers of the Brazilian company.
The rest of the money would be part of the bribes the construction company paid in the country. The former head of the multinational in Ecuador, José Conceição Santos, revealed that bribes were paid, but said he was cheated by ‘Capaco.’
Santos testified that Carlos P. C. approached him on two occasions to offer himself as an intermediary so that the company had contact with the former Legal Secretary of the Presidency Alexis Mera, who was one of the most influential men in the government of Rafael Correa.
He asserted that they gave him $ 4.6 million for these efforts and to prove this, he detailed the deposits (see data box). However, the former head of Odebrecht does not believe that this money was for Mera but went to the bank accounts of ‘Capaco.’
Who is and where is José A.? The first meeting between Ricardo Rivera and Odebrecht’s representative José Conceição Santos was in an apartment in Quito. This was recalled by Ricardo Rivera, who confessed that the meeting was coordinated by a man of his trust named José A.
The meeting took place in 2010 when the Brazilian construction company planned to return to the country. Santos also remembers that appointment. He testified that Ricardo Rivera sought him that year to ask for $ 2 million in exchange for “having access to Mr. Jorge Glas,” then Minister Coordinator of Strategic Sectors and one of the protagonists of the Ecuadorian lawsuit against Odebrecht by the San Francisco hydroelectric plant.
In his confession, he argued that this was the first alleged payment they made (of a total of $ 14 million) to Ricardo Rivera to get more public contracts.
Who is José A.? There are several clues in the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office. The first is the testimony of Ricardo Rivera, who reported he was his legal adviser and his lawyer. However, the most important role of José A. was as an alleged link with Odebrecht entrepreneurs and with other foreign businesspeople interested in participating in satellite communication projects.
In 2010 Odebrecht was constantly seeking its return to Ecuador, after two years without contracts and an array of trials and disallowance notices to pay, according to the National Audit Office. José Conceição Santos declared that the company needed a link with the main control body.
The action of Juan M. was important, of whom little is known, it is only known that he is a lawyer who possibly works in Quito.
According to Santos, this lawyer had a close link with the former Comptroller General. He organized the first meeting that took place in a suite at the Swissotel in Quito. The same room where the former official habitually lodged. (I)
