Brazilian Federal Police targets Odebrecht in operation at Arena Pernambuco.
A construction company investigated in the Lava Jato corruption scandal is now the target of Operation Fair Play, launched this morning by the Federal Police to investigate suspicions of overbilling of R$ 42,8 million in the construction of Arena Pernambuco, a World Cup stadium; ten search and seizure warrants are being executed in Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and São Paulo, in addition to searches at company offices in several states.
Pernambuco 247 - The Federal Police launched Operation Fair Play this Friday morning (14). The objective is to investigate suspicions of overbilling of around $42,8 million in the construction of Arena Pernambuco, located in São Lourenço da Mata, Metropolitan Region of Recife, one of the World Cup stadiums.
Odebrecht, which is already under investigation in Operation Lava Jato, and whose president, Marcelo Odebrecht, has been in prison since June, is the target of this action.
Federal agents are executing ten search and seizure warrants in Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and São Paulo. Police are also conducting searches at the headquarters of the Public-Private Management Committee of Pernambuco and at Odebrecht offices in various states. The Federal Police investigation was initiated in July of last year.
According to the Federal Police, the investigations will seek to identify possible fraud in the international bidding process held in February 2010, as well as investigate suspicions of overpricing in the contract signed between the Government of Pernambuco and Arena Pernambuco Negócios e Investimentos S/A, formed by Odebrecht Investimentos em Infraestrutura Ltda and Odebrecht Serviços de Engenharia e Construção S/A. The contract was signed in June 2010. Odebrecht said it will cooperate with the investigations.