Civil society organizations grouped under the Democratic Institutions Initiative (IDEM) said on Thursday, 19 January 2017, urged that the judicial branch, Congress and other regulatory agencies of the government investigate all contracts signed and executed by the Brazilian firm in the country, given the generalized practice of bribes. IDEM says that the authorities should gather evidence to apply sanctions.
“Since the existence of bribes for at least US$92 million has already been admitted to by Odebrecht before the US courts, there is no need for further proof of fraud or misconduct, but rather the public demands to know who were the intermediaries and final recipients of those funds, and what is the total extent of the damage caused to the country,” stated the organizations grouped into IDEM.
IDEM insists that Odebrecht should reimburse the government the equivalent to two times the amount of bribes, or US$184 million. IDEM says that overvaluations need to be assessed for each contract and the US$162 million in profits that Odebrecht has already confessed to having received as a result of the unscrupulous sales practice must be paid back to the government.
“The Dominican state should demand reimbursement of at least US$346 million plus the additional overvaluations that need to be quantified by experts and the financial cost of those values,” says IDEM.
IDEM also said that the intent to disguise the bribes as professional fees received by the commercial representative of Odebrecht obliges the authorities to identify the bank accounts to which these funds were credited and track all transactions associated with these accounts. In addition, IDEM says that it should be determined if these transactions were reported to the Tax Agency (DGII) and if the corresponding taxes were paid.
IDEM says that the local authorities should follow the example of other countries, such as Colombia, where there have already been consequences. IDEM understands an independent audit should be conducted to analyze the tenders and the execution processes of the works. Special attention should be paid to determine any price variations during the implementation of the projects.
IDEM points out that this is the second bribery scandal ruled upon by the US judiciary. The previous scandal, involving the purchase of the Embraer Super Tucano aircraft, has not yet been resolved nor has the Dominican participation been clarified.
IDEM understands the Odebrecht case should be a starting point for a joint effort of the government and civil society to end the culture of corruption and impunity that pervades public procurement practices and many other activities in the country.
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El Dia
20 January 2017
