Diario Libre reports that the Brazilian expert the Audit Chamber would hire to assist them in auditing the Odebrecht papers in the Dominican Republic, Augusto Nardes, has a tainted image. Brazilian news reports have reported he allegedly received bribes related to the Petrobras corruption case in Brazil. Nardes is the president of the Latin American and Caribbean Organization for Superior Auditing Entities (Olacefs) and is a minister of the Accounts Court of the Brazil Union (TCU).
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that during the Lava Jato (Car Wash) hearing, it was stated that Nardes had received around US$316,000 from 2011 and 2012 to facilitate the contractual proceedings of a project. It was reported that Renato Duque, former director of Petrobras, had met with Nardes at his home to establish the payment and that the money would be paid to a person related to him, who would be responsible to deliver the money to Nardes. Nardes denied the accusation.
Folha also mentions that in 2016 former Brazilian deputy Pedro Correa, of the PP party, had declared that the name Nardes was among those receiving Petrobras bribes. At the time, 2003 to 2005, Nardes was a legislator.
The president of the Audit Chamber, Hugo Alvarez Perez had announced the chamber had requested the cooperation of two Brazilian experts, the president of Olacefs, Augusto Nardes, and Mauricio Alburquerque, director of the Superior School of Accounts for the auditing of public works built by Odebrecht in the Dominican Republic from 2001 to 2014 and for which the company has admitted to paying US$92 million in bribes to Dominican government officers.
The president of the Audit Chamber Alvarez Perez minimized Nardes Brazilian ties. “What happens is that they are who have the most experience in engineering in Brazil, and what they are going to do is counsel the local technicians, such as a professor in a course. They are not going to participate in the work that will be carried out here,” he explained.
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Diario Libre
26 April 2017
