Brazil's Attorney General's Office (AGU) is taking legal action against construction companies for compensation.

Brazil's Attorney General's Office, headed by Luís Inácio Adams, filed the first lawsuit in Federal Court to seek restitution from construction companies involved in the Lava Jato corruption scandal for damages to Petrobras caused by bribery payments. The Attorney General's Office is requesting the return of profits obtained from services rendered to Petrobras, the return of 3% of the value of these contracts (indicated as bribery payments), and a fine of up to three times those amounts. The lawsuit targets Andrade Gutierrez, Odebrecht, Setal, UTC, MPE Montagens, and KTY Engenharia, as well as executives from Mendes Junior and former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa.

July 31, 2015, 13:52 pmUpdated July 04, 2018, 17:03 pm

Brazil's Attorney General's Office, headed by Luís Inácio Adams, filed the first lawsuit in Federal Court to demand that construction companies involved in the Lava Jato corruption scandal reimburse Petrobras for damages caused by bribery payments. The Attorney General's Office is requesting the return of profits obtained from services rendered to Petrobras, the return of 3% of the value of these contracts (indicated as bribery payments), and a fine of up to three times those amounts. The lawsuit targets Andrade Gutierrez, Odebrecht, Setal, UTC, MPE Montagens, and KTY Engenharia, as well as executives from Mendes Junior and former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa (Photo: Aquiles Lins).

Tocantins 247 - Brazil's Attorney General's Office (AGU) has filed its first lawsuit in Federal Court to seek reimbursement from construction companies involved in Operation Lava Jato for damages to public coffers caused by corruption at Petrobras.

The Attorney General's Office (AGU) accuses the construction companies of forming a cartel to obtain contracts with Petrobras through the payment of bribes. These companies are: Andrade Gutierrez, Odebrecht, Setal, UTC, MPE Montagens, and KTY Engenharia. Executives from Mendes Junior and former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa are also targets.

The Attorney General's Office (AGU) is requesting reimbursement of profits obtained from services rendered to Petrobras, the return of 3% of the value of these contracts, indicated as relating to the payment of bribes, and a fine of up to three times these amounts.

If the companies fail to disclose their profits to the courts, the Attorney General's Office (AGU) wants them to be ordered to pay the full value of the contracts, R$ 6,2 billion, plus a fine. "The perception of profit from fraudulent business dealings undoubtedly represents illicit enrichment," the lawyers state in the lawsuit, filed on June 8th.

In a previous lawsuit, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office pointed to damage to public coffers caused by bribes paid to former director Paulo Roberto Costa by Mendes Junior, estimated by prosecutors at R$ 74 million. The Prosecutor's Office also sought compensation for collective moral damages of ten times the value of the bribe.