NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brazil-based construction colossus Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA agreed on Wednesday to pay at least $3.5 billion, the largest penalty ever in a foreign bribery case, to resolve international charges involving payoffs to Brazil’s state oil company and others.

REFILE - CORRECTING IDENTITYAdriano Juca, Diretor Legal of Construction Norberto Odebrecht (CNO), exits federal court after it was agreed that Odebrecht and petrochemical company Braskem would pay a settlement with the Justice Department in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., December 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Odebrecht and Braskem pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn to conspiring to violate a U.S. foreign bribery law after an investigation involving political kickbacks at Brazil’s Petrobras unearthed the bribery scheme.

The huge penalty was negotiated as part of a broad settlement with U.S., Brazilian and Swiss authorities.

Some of the hundreds of millions of dollars used in bribes to secure lucrative business deals flowed through the American banking system and some of the schemes were planned in the United States, enabling U.S. authorities to claim jurisdiction in the case.

Odebrecht is Latin America’s biggest engineering firm. Braskem, the region’s biggest petrochemical producer, is jointly owned by Odebrecht and Petrobras.

Their guilty pleas were the first in the United States following a nearly three-year investigation in Brazil dubbed “Operation Car Wash” into corruption at Petrobras, which has led to dozens of arrests and political upheaval in Brazil.

The total fines and penalties to be paid out by the companies exceeded a 2008 agreement in which German engineering company Siemens paid $1.6 billion to U.S. and European authorities for paying bribes to win government contracts.

Odebrecht and Braskem were charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is aimed at deterring companies from bribing officials overseas.

“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit - a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak - that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Suh said in a statement.

From 2001 to 2016, Odebrecht paid approximately $788 million in bribes in association with 100 projects in 12 countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, according to the U.S. charging papers.

The companies hid the bribes through carefully disguised payments routed through a network of shell companies as well as suitcases of cash left at preset locations, Suh said.

The U.S. Justice Department said the penalty to be paid by the two companies amounted to at least $3.5 billion, including $2.6 billion from Odebrecht and $957 million from Braskem. Brazilian authorities gave a lower figure for the overall deal but did not explain the discrepancy.

U.S. officials said most of the money would go to Brazilian authorities.

Both companies also agreed to continue to cooperate with authorities, implement compliance improvements and become subject to oversight by external monitors.

Odebrecht’s former CEO Marcelo Odebrecht is already serving a 19-year sentence after being found guilty on corruption charges last year in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country. He turned state’s witness and is expected to be freed by the end of 2017.

‘TURNING THE PAGE’

“The company is glad to be turning the page and focusing on its future,” William Burck of U.S. law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represented Odebrecht, said in a statement.

Fernando Musa, Braskem CEO since May, said his company also was pleased to be settling the matter.

“We are implementing more robust practices, policies and processes across the organization,” Musa said in a statement.

According to U.S. prosecutors, Odebrecht said it was able to pay $2.6 billion although it agreed the appropriate criminal fine would be $4.5 billion. The judge scheduled sentencing for April, when the deal would become finalized.

Braskem also agreed to more than $632 million in criminal penalties and fines as well as additional money to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Swiss and Brazilian authorities, the SEC said.

In the sprawling “Car Wash” investigation, named for a Brasilia gas station where some of the money-laundering took place, prosecutors in Brazil have said more than $2 billion in bribes were paid over a decade, mainly to Petrobras executives, from construction and engineering companies.

As part of the deal, Odebrecht agreed that 77 of its executives and employees would cooperate with the investigation, and they have already provided testimony expected to implicate upward of 200 Brazilian politicians.

U.S. prosecutors want to use testimony from Odebrecht employees to pursue more criminal cases that fall under their jurisdiction, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the Odebrecht deal.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who Brazilian prosecutors say oversaw a scheme in which Odebrecht paid 75 million reais ($22.18 million) in bribes to win eight Petrobras contracts, is among those already charged in Brazil.

The scandal also contributed to the downfall of Brazil’s former president, Dilma Rousseff. She was ousted by Brazil’s Senate in August, ending an impeachment process that polarized her country amid the massive corruption scandal and a brutal economic crisis.

Michel Temer, Rousseff’s vice president, then took over, but Temer himself has been cited in recently leaked testimony that Odebrecht officials have given, reportedly accused of accepting illegal campaign donations, allegations he has denied.</s>Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA have pleaded guilty in a US court to violating American foreign bribery laws as part of a more than $3bn deal resolving a sweeping corruption probe of Brazil’s state oil company.

The companies entered their pleas in federal court in Brooklyn in the major corruption case stemming from a wide-ranging probe into their role in a scheme involving political kickbacks at Brazil’s Petrobras.

The cumulative penalties were negotiated as part of a global settlement with US, Brazilian and Swiss authorities.

They are the first guilty pleas in the United States following an investigation in Brazil dubbed “Operation Car Wash” into corruption at Petrobras, which has led to dozens of arrests and political upheaval in Brazil.

The deal with Odebrecht, Latin America’s biggest engineering firm, is for 6.9bn reais, more than $2bn, a source told Reuters this week, and is part of an agreement with Brazilian prosecutors.

Under the global settlement deal, Braskem jointly owned by Odebrecht and Petrobras, has agreed to a global deal of $632m, assistant US attorney Alixandra Smith said in court. Of that sum, the US gets 15%, Switzerland gets 15% and Brazil gets 70%, prosecutors said.

Both companies agreed to cooperate with authorities, implement compliance improvements and become subject to oversight by an external monitor.

It is one of the largest corruption cases on record. The total fines and penalties paid out by the companies exceed a 2008 agreement in which German engineering company Siemens paid $1.6bn to US and European authorities for paying bribes to win government contracts.</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

WASHINGTON — Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht and major petrochemical company Braskem have agreed to pay a combined penalty of at least $3.5 billion to settle allegations that they bribed government officials in a dozen countries around the world, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.

The Brazilian corporations admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, money that law enforcement officials say was authorized at the highest corporate levels and was concealed through shell companies and offshore entities. Both companies have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in New York and have resolved charges from authorities in Brazil, Switzerland and the United States. The Justice Department called it the largest-ever resolution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that makes it illegal to bribe foreign government officials for business.

U.S. law enforcement officials say bribes totaling about $788 million were paid since 2001 in connection with about 100 projects around the world. Some of the offshore entities that were used to hold and disburse the funds were owned or operated by people in the United States, and some meetings where the scheming occurred took place in Miami, federal prosecutors said.

Court documents allege that Odebrecht created a stand-alone unit, called the Division of Special Operations, that “effectively functioned as a bribe department” within the company and that relied on an off-the-books communication system of secure emails, code names and passwords.

“Odebrecht had a division in its company dedicated solely to bribery, a full team of people dedicated to criminal conduct,” FBI assistant director Stephen Richardson said.

The companies have both agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, including in investigations into individual company officials.

In a statement, William Burck, a lawyer for Odebrecht, said the company is “glad to be turning the page and focusing on its future.”

The company is at the center of the probe of state-run oil giant Petrobras, which has ensnared Brazilian politicians and business people.

Some of the corrupt payments alleged Wednesday went to Petrobas employees and executives, and to political parties and government officials in Brazil, the Justice Department said.</s>Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Wednesday to violating American foreign bribery laws as part of a $3.5 billion deal resolving a sweeping corruption probe of Brazil's state oil company.

The companies entered their pleas in federal court in Brooklyn in the major corruption case stemming from a wide-ranging probe into their role in a scheme involving political kickbacks at Brazil's Petrobras.

The cumulative penalties, some of the largest ever paid in a foreign corruption case, were negotiated as part of a global settlement with U.S., Brazilian and Swiss authorities.

Odebrecht is Latin America's biggest engineering firm. Braskem is jointly owned by Odebrecht and Petrobras.

Their guilty pleas were the first in the United States following an investigation in Brazil dubbed "Operation Car Wash" into corruption at Petrobras, which has led to dozens of arrests and political upheaval in Brazil.

In court on Wednesday, Odebrecht agreed that it has the ability to pay $2.6 billion. Sentencing in the case was scheduled for April, when the deal would become finalized.

Under the global settlement deal, Braskem also has agreed to pay $957 million, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Braskem agreed to pay more than $632 million in criminal penalties and fines as well as additional money to the SEC and Brazilian authorities, the SEC said.

Odebrecht agreed that the appropriate criminal fine is $4.5 billion, but that will be subject to further analysis of the company's ability to pay that amount, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Both companies also agreed to cooperate with authorities, implement compliance improvements and become subject to oversight by external monitors.

The total fines and penalties paid out by the companies exceeded a 2008 agreement in which German engineering company Siemens paid $1.6 billion to U.S. and European authorities for paying bribes to win government contracts.

Prosecutors in Brazil have said more than $2 billion in bribes were paid over a decade, mainly to Petrobras executives, from construction and engineering companies.

Among those charged have been former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who Brazilian prosecutors say oversaw a scheme in which Odebrecht paid 75 million reais ($22.18 million) in bribes to win eight Petrobras contracts.

Odebrecht's former CEO Marcelo Odebrecht is already serving a 19-year sentence after being found guilty on corruption charges in Brazil last year. He turned state's witness and is expected to be freed by the end of 2017.

The nearly three-year "Car Wash" investigation, named for a Brasilia gas station where some of the alleged money laundering took place, also contributed to the downfall of Brazil's former president, Dilma Rousseff. She was ousted by Brazil's Senate in August, ending an impeachment process that polarized Latin America's biggest country amid the massive corruption scandal and a brutal economic crisis.

Michel Temer, Rousseff's vice president, then took over, but several members of his cabinet and the leader of his Brazilian Democratic Movement Party have been either charged with graft or accused of it.

Temer himself has been cited in recently leaked testimony that Odebrecht officials have given, reportedly accused of accepting illegal campaign donations, allegations he has denied.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht and major petrochemical company Braskem have agreed to pay a combined penalty of at least $3.5 billion to settle allegations that they bribed government officials in a dozen countries around the world, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.

The Brazilian corporations admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, money that law enforcement officials say was authorized at the highest corporate levels and was concealed through shell companies and offshore entities. Both companies have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in New York and have resolved charges from the authorities in Brazil, Switzerland and the U.S.

The Justice Department called it the largest resolution ever under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that makes it illegal to bribe foreign government officials for business.

U.S. law enforcement officials say bribes totaling about $788 million were paid since 2001 in connection with approximately 100 projects around the world, including to secure public works contracts in Panama, Peru, Angola and several other countries. Some of the offshore entities that were used to hold and disburse the funds were owned or operated by people in the U.S., and some meetings where the scheming occurred took place in Miami, federal prosecutors said.

Court documents allege that Odebrecht created a stand-alone unit, called the Division of Special Operations, that “effectively functioned as a bribe department” within the company and that relied on an off-the-books communication system of secure emails, code names and passwords.

“Odebrecht had a division in its company dedicated solely to bribery, a full team of people dedicated to criminal conduct,” FBI assistant director Stephen Richardson told reporters in a conference call.

The companies have both agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, including in investigations into individual company officials. They’ve also agreed to be under the watch of independent compliance monitors for the next three years.

In a statement Wednesday, William Burck, a lawyer for Odebrecht, said the company was “glad to be turning the page and focusing on its future.”

Earlier this month, the company apologized for its involvement in corruption scandals that led to the arrest of its former chief executives and several of its officials. It acknowledged having made serious mistakes and promised not to rely on extortion or bribes to get contracts from public officials. Odebrecht signed another agreement with Brazilian authorities to return almost $2 billion to public coffers.

The company is at the center of the mushrooming probe at state-run oil giant Petrobras, which has ensnared Brazilian politicians and business people across the board.

Some of the corrupt payments alleged Wednesday went to Petrobas employees and executives, and to political parties and government officials in Brazil, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors also accused Odebrecht of conspiring with other Brazilian construction companies to rig bids for Petrobas contracts.

Dozens of Odebrecht executives signed plea bargains with Brazilian prosecutors and as many as 200 politicians might be implicated in the corruption scandal. The company has fired 51 people who participated in the misconduct and disciplined an additional 26, according to the Justice Department’s plea agreement.

Plea bargain testimony obtained by The Associated Press cites Brazilian President Michel Temer 44 times, with accusations of illegal campaign financing that put his embattled administration at an even bigger risk of ending within months.

The 82 pages of testimony by former Odebrecht director Claudio Melo Filho include allegations that Temer illegally financed his campaign in 2014. If the accusations are confirmed by Brazil’s top electoral court next year, the president will be removed and Congress will pick a successor. In May, President Dilma Rousseff was impeached for breaking fiscal rules.

It is not clear whether U.S. prosecutors will be able to bring criminal charges against individual executives or employees implicated in the corruption, though they will likely face pressure to do so. A memo last year from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates reminded Justice Department prosecutors that they should strive when possible to hold individuals accountable for corporate misconduct.</s>Braskem (BAK ) agrees to pay $957M to settle charges that it allegedly hid millions of dollars in illegal bribes paid to Brazilian government officials by falsifying its financial statements, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the SEC announces.

The payment is part of a global settlement with the SEC, the U.S. Justice Department and authorities in Brazil and Switzerland.

BAK and Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court, the first guilty pleas in the U.S. following the Operation Car Wash investigation in Brazil into corruption at Petrobras (PBR ).</s>WASHINGTON: Scandal-plagued Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and petrochemical affiliate Braskem have agreed to pay a record $3.5 billion to settle a vast international bribery case, US officials said.

Odebrecht, a key player in the Petrobras corruption scandal gripping Brazil, agreed to a fine of $4.5 billion but said it was only able to pay $2.6 billion, the US Justice Department said in a statement. Braskem, meanwhile, will pay $957 million.

The fines are to be paid to Brazilian, Swiss and US authorities, the department said, calling it "the largest-ever global foreign bribery resolution."

It is the latest in a string of terrible headlines for Odebrecht, which Brazilian investigators say was one of the ringleaders of a scheme to plunder billions of dollars from state oil company Petrobras.

Revelation of the scandal has rocked Brazil's political and business establishment to its foundations, with ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva facing trial and current President Michel Temer reportedly under suspicion.

The bribery case settled Wednesday includes the Petrobras allegations, but is even bigger.

The Odebrecht conglomerate pleaded guilty to bribing government officials and political parties to the tune of $788 million to secure business on three continents -- mostly in Brazil, but also 11 other countries in Latin America and Africa.

"Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit -- a 'Department of Bribery,' so to speak -- that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents," US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh said in a statement.

"Such brazen wrongdoing calls for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a strong effort with our colleagues in Brazil and Switzerland, we have seen just that."

In the main scheme, Odebrecht targeted top Brazilian politicians and executives at Petrobras for more than a decade starting in about 2001. The bribes were used to secure inflated contracts and even get favorable legislation passed in Congress.

Suh praised Brazil's judiciary for tackling the issue head on.

"I cannot praise their efforts enough. They have been under enormous pressure, done an extraordinary job of initiating the investigation and carrying it through," she said.

The Brazilian probe, known by its codename Operation Carwash, has cast dark shadows over two of Brazil's most important companies, Petrobras and Odebrecht, adding to economic pain as the country flounders in deep recession.

Odebrecht's jailed boss Marcelo Odebrecht and 76 other current and former executives have signed plea deals agreeing to tell all in exchange for lighter sentences.

The Brazilian press has described the deal as potentially apocalyptic for the political establishment.

Panama, meanwhile, said it would request information from the United States about alleged Odebrecht bribes paid in Panama to secure contracts, its foreign ministry said.

The previous record bribery settlement was $1.6 billion for German engineering group Siemens in 2008. It settled charges of systematically using bribes and slush funds to land public works contracts around the world.

Margarida Gutierrez, an economist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, told AFP that this settlement, Odebrecht's newest move to come clean, would open the door for its return to the market.

"Right now they are unable to participate in any bids in Brazil or probably out of Brazil," she said. "Now they can start again, and try to clear their name. They will succeed but it will be hard."

The US Justice Department will conduct an "inability to pay analysis" by March 31 to determine the final amount that Odebrecht must come up with. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 17.

Under the plea agreement, Brazil will receive 80 percent of Odebrecht's fines, while the United States and Switzerland will garner 10 percent each.

Braskem, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange through American Depositary Receipts (ADR), saw its shares soar after the deal was announced, closing up four percent.

It will pay a criminal fine of $632 million, and another $325 million penalty to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the Braskem deal, Brazil will receive 70 percent of the fines, while US and Swiss authorities receive 15 percent. Sentencing for the firm has not yet been scheduled.</s>Two Brazilian companies accused of a massive bribery scheme will pay more than $3.5 billion in fines to U.S. and Brazilian authorities.

Under the agreement, the enormous construction conglomerate Odebrecht will pay $2.6 billion, and its petroleum subsidiary Braskem will pay approximately $957 million, for their dealings with the state-controlled Brazilian oil company, Petrobras.

The U.S. Justice Department said it was the agency's largest corporate bribery resolution ever.

The investment research firm Morningstar described the multiyear investigation in its coverage of Petrobras:

Although Odebrecht and Braskem are both based in Brazil, they trade their stock on U.S. markets and conduct business through U.S. banks, making them subject to U.S. anti-bribery laws. Both companies pleaded guilty to violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Odebrecht is one of the largest construction firms in Latin America. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro reported on the company's importance in Brazil last year:

"It's really hard to explain just how omnipresent Odebrecht is in Brazil, and Latin America generally. They are everywhere and they have had a hand in building almost everything — four of the World Cup stadiums alone. For the Olympics, the company is helping to build the Athletes' Village, an express bus line and the Olympic Park, plus a subway line. But that's really just the tip of the iceberg — they operate in dozens of countries around the world, too, including in the U.S."

Earlier this month, Odebrecht released an unvarnished statement of guilt titled "Odebrecht Apologizes For Its Mistakes," which began "Odebrecht acknowledges its participation in illicit actions in its business activities" and said the company had given in to "external pressure."

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges Braskem "made approximately $325 million in profits through bribes ... paid to a government official at Brazil's state-controlled petroleum company as well as Brazilian legislators and political party officials," according to a Justice Department announcement.

The federal government alleges the bribes were paid through a separate company that was Braskem's largest shareholder.

The Justice Department says it worked with officials in Switzerland, where some of the bank transactions were handled, according to Bloomberg, as well as Brazil to investigate the scheme. Two-thirds of Braskem's payment will go toward "criminal penalties and fines." The other third will be paid to the U.S. and Brazilian agencies that carried out the investigation.

The SEC said that despite the enormous settlement, its investigation into the companies is ongoing. Brazil is also investigating corrupt dealings related to Petrobras. In 2015, Odebrecht's founder was arrested by Brazilian authorities in connection with the investigation, as we reported.</s>Two major Brazilian companies were hit with a record $3.5 billion in criminal fines Wednesday in what authorities say is the largest foreign bribery case in history.

One of the firms, Odebrecht, a global construction company, played a key role in the corruption scandal that's sparked Brazil's worst recession ever and engulfed its politicians, including the last two presidents.

The fines, announced by the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., resolve charges that were levied in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland against Odebrecht and Braskem, a Brazilian petrochemical firm.

"Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit - a 'Department of Bribery,' so to speak - that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh.

The companies are not charged with bribing any U.S. officials, but the since the scheme used U.S. bank accounts, they are being charged in federal court in the U.S. The U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn was also responsible for bringing bribery charges in 2015 against some of the top officials of FIFA, the governing body for international soccer.

The record fine is the latest twist in Brazil's corruption scandal. Its state-run oil company, Petrobras, operated a deep bribery ring between construction firms including Odebrecht and Brazilian politicians.

Brazil's former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was indicted Monday by a federal judge in Brazil on charges of alleged money laundering and corruption. Known as "Lula," he is accused of accepting a penthouse apartment paid for by Odebrecht in exchange for contracts with Petrobras. He's implicated in at least three other corruption cases.

Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached earlier this year. Although she was formally accused of another crime, the Petrobras scandal and the recession it helped create loomed over her impeachment trial.

Rousseff wasn't accused of accepting bribes from Odebrecht, but many in her inner circle have been jailed on accusations they accepted bribes from Odebrecht and other firms.

Even four cabinet members of the current president, Michel Temer, have had to resign after corruption allegations tied to the bribery ring.

U.S. officials said foreign bribery poses a major risk to America.

"When foreign officials receive bribes, they threaten our national security and the international free market system in which we trade," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney. "Just because they're out of our sight, doesn't mean they're beyond our reach."

U.S. and Swiss authorities will each get 10% of the fine money, while Brazil will receive the other 80%. Braskem (BAK) will pay about $950 million. Odebrecht will pay at least $2.6 billion and as much as $4.5 billion, depending up what an independent analysis finds the company can afford.</s>Scandal-plagued Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and petrochemical affiliate Braskem have agreed to pay a record USD 3.5 billion to settle a vast international bribery case, US officials have said. Odebrecht, a key player in the Petrobras corruption scandal gripping Brazil, agreed to a fine of USD 4.5 billion but said it was only able to pay USD 2.6 billion, the US Justice Department said in a statement. Braskem, meanwhile, will pay USD 957 million.

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The fines are to be paid to Brazilian, Swiss and US authorities, the department said, calling it “the largest-ever global foreign bribery resolution.”

It is the latest in a string of terrible headlines for Odebrecht, which Brazilian investigators say was one of the ringleaders of a scheme to plunder billions of dollars from state oil company Petrobras.

Revelation of the scandal has rocked Brazil’s political and business establishment to its foundations, with ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva facing trial and current President Michel Temer reportedly under suspicion.

The bribery case settled yesterday includes the Petrobras allegations, but is even bigger.

The Odebrecht conglomerate pleaded guilty to bribing government officials and political parties to the tune of $788 million to secure business on three continents — mostly in Brazil, but also 11 other countries in Latin America and Africa.

“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit — a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak — that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sung-Hee Suh said in a statement.

“Such brazen wrongdoing calls for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a strong effort with our colleagues in Brazil and Switzerland, we have seen just that.”

In the main scheme, Odebrecht targeted top Brazilian politicians and executives at Petrobras for more than a decade starting in about 2001. The bribes were used to secure inflated contracts and even get favorable legislation passed in Congress.

Suh praised Brazil’s judiciary for tackling the issue head on.

“I cannot praise their efforts enough. They have been under enormous pressure, done an extraordinary job of initiating the investigation and carrying it through,” she said.

The Brazilian probe, known by its codename Operation Carwash, has cast dark shadows over two of Brazil’s most important companies, Petrobras and Odebrecht, adding to economic pain as the country flounders in deep recession.

Odebrecht’s jailed boss Marcelo Odebrecht and 76 other current and former executives have signed plea deals agreeing to tell all in exchange for lighter sentences.

The Brazilian press has described the deal as potentially apocalyptic for the political establishment.
Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem plead guilty of violating American foreign bribery laws in connection with the Petrobras deal.