Odebrecht bribery case in the Dominican Republic enters final stage | international | News

The trial against the six Dominican Republic politicians and businessmen accused of taking bribes that Brazilian construction company Odebrecht revealed it distributed in the country to illegally award public works between 2002 and 2012, entered the final stage on Monday.

After nearly a year of hearings since the substantive trial of this infamous case began, the Public Prosecution Office on Monday began presenting its findings, which will run on July 27 and 29.

Once this part is completed, on August 2, businessman Angel Rondon, the former Odebrecht commercial representative in the Dominican Republic who has been named as the person who distributed Odebrecht bribes in the country, will begin to present.

Rondon will have six days to present his findings, then make way for the five other defendants: former Public Works Minister Victor Díaz Roa, former Senators Andres Bautista, Tommy Galán and Roberto Rodriguez, and attorney Conrado Petaluga Arzino, which should expire on September 16.

This case of corruption is the largest in the country’s modern history, affecting the two main political forces, the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), in power since August 2020, and the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which led the country between 2004 and 2020.

Odebrecht admitted in 2016 that it paid $92 million in bribes to Dominican politicians. Granting and obtaining facilities in 16 public works contracts, including highways, hydroelectric plants or aqueducts, with a total budget of approximately $3,865 million.

The Brazilian company reached an agreement with the Dominican Attorney General’s Office in 2017 that it will have to pay $184 million in various installments, double what it admitted to giving in bribes in the country. (I)