Odebrecht paid a bribe of US$23 million to Costa.
It was Marcelo Odebrecht's construction company (right) that paid US$23 million to Paulo Roberto Costa into various Swiss bank accounts; this information is part of the plea bargain of the former Petrobras director, who yesterday left prison and will be under house arrest in Rio de Janeiro; the funds, now equivalent to R$58 million, were returned to the Brazilian state as part of the agreement with the Justice system; Judge Sergio Moro, who is leading the case, now intends to incriminate the construction companies as corruptors; during Costa's management, Marcelo Odebrecht's company obtained a contract worth R$1,48 billion in a consortium with OAS.
247 - Former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa claims to have received US$23 million, equivalent to R$58 million, from Odebrecht, a construction company headed by Marcelo Odebrecht, in a Swiss bank account between 2010 and 2011.
The information was reportedly released by investigators from Operation Lava Jato, according to a report by Mario Cesar Carvalho (read here).
Costa was responsible for the construction of the Abreu e Lima Refinery in Pernambuco when Marcelo Odebrecht's construction company obtained a contract worth R$ 1,48 billion, in a consortium with OAS.
Accused of involvement in the scheme led by money launderer Alberto Youssef, arrested by the Federal Police, for money laundering and paying bribes to public officials, Costa reached a plea bargain agreement and has been under house arrest since yesterday afternoon.
An audit by the Federal Court of Accounts also indicated that Camargo Corrêa, Odebrecht, and OAS inflated their contracts for the Abreu e Lima dam project by R$ 367,9 million.
Funds returned
As part of the plea bargain agreement, the funds received as bribes by Paulo Roberto Costa will be returned to the Brazilian state.
Thus, although Odebrecht denies making the payment, it will be easy to trace the origin of the funds.
One of the points of the agreement states that, if he is lying, Costa will lose all the benefits of the plea bargain and return to prison. Yesterday, he left prison in Paraná and was taken to Rio de Janeiro, where he will be under house arrest.
Judge Sergio Moro, who is leading the case, now intends to incriminate the corruptors. Odebrecht is currently one of the largest construction companies in the country, alongside other names also mentioned in Operation Lava Jato, such as OAS, Camargo Corrêa, and Queiroz Galvão.