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Brazil’s construction company would have created contracts to divert suspicious money to the country
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FCC case: they seek to determine together with Spain if the company paid bribes here
(CRHoy.com). The Public Ministry of Costa Rica awaits a response from its Brazilian counterpart for receive “relevant evidence” in the criminal case that seeks to clarify possible diversion of funds from the construction company OAS to Costa Rican territory.
The criminal case, opened in February 2019, is still under file 19-000046-1218-PE by the alleged crime of international bribery. Managed by the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency and Anticorruption (FAPTA).
The prosecution explained to CRHoy.com that in 2020 it was sent to the Brazilian authorities the request for international criminal assistance through the Office of Technical Advice and International Relations (OATRI).
“File 19-000166-1218-PE is under investigation, in the preparatory stage, which consists of the collection and analysis of evidence. Within this case, FAPTA sent Brazil a request for international criminal assistance in order to obtain relevant evidence for the case, so it is waiting to receive a response from said nation, “explained the entity, to CRHoy.com
What is being investigated? Between 2012 and 2014, the Brazilian OAS had the concession to modernize the road corridor between San José and San Ramón.
Faced with doubts about the plan and growing community opposition, the Chinchilla Miranda administration (2010-2014) put an end to the link to develop the project. A decision that resulted in a state payment of close to $ 35 million for the construction company as a result of the contract breakdown.
What happened years later? On February 28, 2019, the Brazilian media O’Globo, revealed that a young lawyer and former executive of the South American construction company, identified as Alexandre Portela Barbosa, confessed to the Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office that – allegedly – OAS created fictitious contracts in Costa Rica to divert money that was later used to pay bribes in different countries.
The 38-year-old lawyer, who recorded 2 ‘lightning’ visits to Costa Rica during 2013He would have served as the manager of the company’s clandestine accounting and would have participated as a “donkey” to move money to the countries where, it is presumed, the irregular payments were made.
According to the revelation published in 2019, the fraudulent contracts signed by those clandestine arms of the company between 2010 and 2014 totaled close to $ 120 million and supplied the accounts of the tankers that moved the clandestine OAS resources abroad or remitted the money to Brazil.
Portela Barbosa indicated in the statement that the company also devised and executed fraudulent contracts –for works not carried out or that did not exist- in 7 other countries: Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile, Trinidad & Tobago and the British Virgin Islands.
Apparently, according to information obtained by CRHoy.com, the lawyer traveled to Guatemala and then to Costa Rica to make payments as part of the bribes given by the management of road projects.
Another case on the list
On June 13, 2019, the newspaper El País in Spain reported that the Police of the Principality of Andorra were investigating the Spanish FCC due to the fact that in a series of documents alleged bribes were cited that would have been paid in different Latin American countries (between them Costa Rica) to change to achieve the development of infrastructure projects.
Apparently and according to the information, through a lawyer identified as Mauricio Cort (Spanish nationalized Panamanian), the company was helped to obtain the contracts and pay the alleged bribes through bank accounts and companies domiciled in Andorra.
The project in Costa Rican territory dealt with the modernization of Route 3 between Heredia and Alajuela, which had a cost close to $ 20 million.
What is the antecedent of the case? In 2009, FCC offered the lowest price to develop the project in Costa Rica and for this reason, among other technical details, it was awarded. The work, after several delays, was completed between 2012 and 2013.
Following the revelations given by the international media in 2019, FAPTA also opened a criminal case for the alleged crime of transnational bribery through file 19-000046-1218-PE
“The prosecution indicated that it is pending to receive the necessary information to present the request to Spain,” explained the press office of the Public Ministry.
Both causes are in the preparatory stage (collection and analysis of evidence).
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