Federal Police arrest heads of two top Brazilian contractors
Federal Police conducted a search and seizure operation at the headquarters of contractor Norberto Odebrecht, in Rio de Janeiro, as part of stage 14 of Operation Car Wash
The owner and president of construction company Odebrecht, Marcelo Odebrecht, and the president of Andrade Gutierrez, Otavio Marques Azevedo, are among prisoners in stage 14 of Operation Car Wash launched Friday (June 19) by the Federal Police (PF).
A total 59 warrants are being served in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, including 38 search and seizure, nine bench arrest, eight pre-charge remand, and four temporary detention warrants.
In a statement, Odebrecht referred to the Federal Police action as “unnecessary”. He said the company has always been at the authorities' service and confirmed that arrest and search and seizure warrants have been served at the company's offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Friday morning (19).
Andrade Gutierrez also issued a statement denying any connections with the overpriced Petrobras contract scheme investigated by the operation. It said it is cooperating with the investigations in order to clarify all matters as soon as possible.
This stage of Operation Car Wash has been named Erga Omnes, a Latin term used in legal contexts to mean that the effects of any act or law are applicable to all individuals. It is used as a reference to the fact that the investigations have reached the country's two largest contractors, which until recently had not been targeted by Operation Car Wash.
The operation began in March last year as a crackdown on a corruption scheme involving contracts with Petrobras that were overpriced to pay bribes to public and private actors. As the investigations developed, similar illegal practices were also found in advertising contracts with the Ministry of Health and the federal savings bank, Caixa.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Federal Police arrest heads of two top Brazilian contractors
