Odebrecht's Alleged Money Man Points Brazil Probe to Banks
- Odebrecht `agent' helped move cash through HSBC, Deutsche
- Brazil investigators boost cooperation with other countries
An investigation into Latin America’s largest construction group is steering prosecutors to a transnational money laundering scheme allegedly conducted through Swiss branches of banks including HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Canada and Deutsche Bank AG.
Bernardo Freiburghaus, 47, a Brazilian-Swiss dual citizen, is accused by a judge in Brazil of setting up a money laundering operation for Odebrecht SA as part of what prosecutors say was a pay-to-play scheme at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA. He allegedly oversaw the movement of illicit money to Switzerland from countries including Brazil and the U.S. More than $100 million held by his clients has already been seized from Swiss accounts and returned to authorities in Brazil. Freiburghaus’s lawyer denied wrongdoing by her client.