Brazil 'Carwash' Probe Yields Largest-Ever Corruption Penalty
- Odebrecht, Braskem plead guilty and agree to pay $3.5 billion
- Payments to win Petrobras contracts fueled political scandal
Construction of an Odebrecht project in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Photographer: Paulo FridmanThis article is for subscribers only.
Odebrecht SA, Latin America’s biggest construction company, and an affiliate agreed to pay more than $3.5 billion to resolve bribery allegations involving Brazil’s state-run oil company, the largest corruption penalty ever levied by global authorities.
Odebrecht pleaded guilty in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday to conspiring to pay bribes in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. An Odebrecht affiliate, the petrochemicals maker Braskem SA, also pleaded guilty. The two admitted to paying officials of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the Brazilian oil giant known as Petrobras, to win contracts.