Argentina reaches agreement with the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office to use testimonies from the Lava Jato corruption investigation.
Argentine authorities will be able to use information from plea bargains and leniency agreements signed in Brazil as part of Operation Lava Jato in investigations conducted in the neighboring country, such as in various cases related to the Odebrecht construction company; a judicial cooperation agreement was signed between the Attorney General's offices of Brazil and Argentina.
Ricardo Brito, Reuters Argentine authorities will be able to use information from plea bargains and leniency agreements signed in Brazil as part of Operation Lava Jato in investigations conducted in the neighboring country, such as in the various cases related to the Odebrecht construction company there, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) reported on Monday.
The judicial cooperation agreement was signed between the Attorney General's offices of Brazil and Argentina, officially establishing that the courts of the neighboring country will now accept this information from the Brazilian Lava Jato operation.
According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the expectation is that, with the information and evidence provided by Brazil, "it will be possible, for the first time (in Argentina), to accuse former officials involved in irregularities."
The signing of the cooperation agreement, which is confidential, took place on Friday and is the result of work by the International Cooperation Secretariat of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF).
The Secretary for International Cooperation of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, Regional Prosecutor Cristina Romanó, intensified negotiations for the signing of the agreement over the past six months, according to the PGR press office.
The goal was to get the countries to reach a common understanding on the terms of legal cooperation. Argentina was resistant to granting immunity to whistleblowers in exchange for information, but this point was overcome thanks to the efforts of the secretariat.
"After a long process of negotiation and dialogue between the SCI and Argentine authorities, we were able to reach an agreement so that the plea bargains involving corruption in Argentina can be made available to prosecutors there. This represents a huge step forward in the international legal cooperation relationship between the two countries and another major step in the fight against corruption," highlighted Cristina Romanó, in a statement distributed by the MPF to the press.
The regional prosecutor said the document was finalized in a way that protects the collaborators and the content of the agreements made in Brazil. According to information from the secretariat, this same type of commitment agreement – for the sending of information – has already been signed with Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands. The only country that has not yet officially accepted the sharing of Brazilian testimonies is Portugal. Due to the confidential nature of the data, the full text of the agreement signed with Argentina cannot be disclosed.