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The metamorphosis of Odebrecht in Ecuador
Posted On 10 Aug 2017
Ecuadornews:
It was not only corruption. After 30 years in the country, Odebrecht’s life is reflected in a long criminal record, outlining a prominent but eminently corrupt company.
Since its arrival in 1987, the largest Brazilian private company pulled strings for a gradual expansion to almost all the areas: it started operations with the construction of transfers, then jumped to “all modalities procurement” in 1993. Later, in 1997, it built buildings, and roads and highways a year later. The company tried its luck with the construction of railways in 2015 when it was awarded the Quito subway, and finally last year it extended its business to civil engineering in all its branches, architecture and consulting.
Six companies established in 30 years, “under a system of apparent legality,” in the words of Attorney General Carlos Baca Mancheno, had an almost equal number of national directors.
The presence of Odebrecht in Ecuador, strengthened mainly by its contracts with the strategic areas of the State, generated revenues of one thousand eight hundred million dollars.
Some of these companies are Diacelec and Equitransa, whose managers today are also prosecuted.
Because in the end, behind that image of unlimited growth and business success, granted by the reading of its balance sheets, a culture of bribery, today turned into the company motto, was hidden.
According to the file, Odebrecht used at least three offshore companies, today under the radar of justice, for the payment of bribes by public contracting: South American International Bank (Curaçao), Amicorp (Hong Kong) and Sentinel Mandate & Escrow (Virgin Islands). (I)
Source: http://www.expreso.ec/actualidad/odebrecht-corrupcion-justicia-ecuador-MC1613394
