Peru’s former President Alan Garcia shot himself in the head last week after investigators, probing his role in the Odebrecht corruption scandal – one of the biggest corruption cases of its kind in history – sought to arrest him in Lima.
About:
Background: The Odebrecht Scandal was discovered by Brazilian authorities in 2014.
Name: The scam gets its name from Odebrecht, a giant construction firm based in Brazil.
Scandal: Odebrecht has been accused of paying over $800 million in bribes to politicians and government officials in countries across South America over the past two decades in return for contracts to build largescale projects such as roads, pipelines, trains, and irrigation systems.
Working:
Odebrecht is alleged to have built an elaborate structure for sending bribes to patrons.
It used shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and Belize to funnel money to politicians and officials, using multiple bank accounts scattered across the globe.
Smaller banks whose employees could be compromised were chosen, typically in jurisdictions with strict confidentiality laws.
A separate “Division for Structured Accounts” at Odebrecht ran these clandestine operations.
Political fallout:
In Brazil, the leftist leader and President from 2003 to 2010, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was sent to jail for 12 years in 2018.
In Ecuador, a former Vice President has been sent to prison for six years. There are accusations against former Presidents of Colombia and Argentina.
In Peru, three former Presidents are accused in the scandal. Peru’s former President Alan Garcia committed suicide last week.
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