One of the three high level executives of the so-called Odebrecht bribes department, Fernando Migliaccio admitted a second time to having made bribes “on the side” to Mónica Moura, wife of Joao Santana, for the Danilo Medina election campaign in the Dominican Republic. This is the second time he has admitted to having made the illicit payments.
The Dominican government recently signed an agreement with Odebrecht in which the company will be allowed to complete works underway in the country. The government will relinquish its right to penalize Odebrecht executives and affiliated companies. Finally, the government will receive US$184 million in fees and sanctions that will be paid over eight years.
Migliaccio told the Brazilian judiciary that he was in charge of making the illicit payments for electoral campaigns and other matters for Odebrecht.
Migliaccio was the manager-treasurer of Cashier 2 (a fund assigned to illicit payments for electoral campaigns). His only boss was Marcelo Odebrecht, president of the company and Hilberto da Silva, operations coordinator.
The Migliaccio file was made public by Luiz Edson Fachin, minister of the Higher Federal Court (STF) of Brazil. The statements were made on 16 May 2017.
In the 190-page document, Migliaccio reveals the details of the Odebrecht operations and how the payments for electoral campaigns were made, including in the Dominican Republic. The document reveals the Odebrecht “bribes department” was moved to the Dominican Republic, supposedly because the country was a safe haven for managing what was essentially an organized crime ring. Moura’s husband, Joao Santana, was the chief election campaign strategist for President Danilo Medina.
In March 2017, Odebrecht executive Hilberto Silva had admitted to the Electoral Court that the construction company financed electoral campaigns in five countries, including the Dominican Republic.
This later would be denied by Monica Moura with the denial corroborated by the Medina administration that insists it did not receive Odebrecht money for the PLD presidential election campaign.
While still in the Dominican Republic, Santana and his wife Mónica Moura sought by Brazilian authorities, they were taken into custody, and later sentenced to jail for their participation in the Lava Jato corruption scandal in Brazil. The New York Court papers on the Odebrecht bribes scandal indicated the company used funds for political campaigns in Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
19 May 2017
