Panama, March 7. A court in Panama approved on Tuesday the application of a default rate of 5%, or more than 916,000 dollars, to the Brazilian company Odebrecht, for not having paid the annual fee of the fine of 220 million dollars. dollars inflicted on him in 2017. the corruption scandal in this country.
The court made the decision during a hearing in which it declared that the companies Constructora Norberto Odebrecht de Panamá SA and Constructora Norberto Odebrecht SA (CNO SA) had not paid the annual fine of 18,333,333 dollars for 2022, reported the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP, The Prosecutor’s Office).
With a delinquency rate of 5%, the company now has to shell out around $19.25 million, a sum that must be consigned to the national treasury.
Odebrecht made a commitment in 2017 to the Panamanian justice system to pay a fine of 220 million dollars within 12 years for the corruption cases it maintains in the country. So far, the company has paid around $58.36 million.
The judge has scheduled a new hearing for July 10 for the companies to provide financial information and offer payment options for future installments.
“It has been established by the compliance tribunal to grant the request made by the deputy concerning the new restraint orders for the year 2022 with the credits that these companies maintain in favor of the projects they have carried out at the State,” the prosecutor said. Superior Anti-Corruption, Anilú Batista.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it also asked to order the withholding of credits for projects valued at $19 million to “compete with payment of what is owed.”
These projects would be with the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Reorganization (MIVIOT) for more than 16 million dollars and the Panama Metro, for 2 million dollars.
Odrebecht starred in the biggest corruption scandal in Panama’s history, with former presidents, former ministers and those close to them implicated. A total of 36 defendants will face a trial which should begin next August. EFE
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