The interim Attorney General of the Nation, Eduardo Casal, has confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office to share evidence taken from whistleblowers related to the giant Operation Lava Jato (“Car Wash”) corruption scandal, after almost a year of delays and negotiations.
The probe has ensnared an array of prominent members of Brazil’s political and business elite, including President Michel Temer. Investigators discovered that politicians and their parties were allegedly taking money from the Odebrecht construction conglomerate and other big companies in exchange for political favours and contracts with state oil company Petrobras.
Previous reports in local media outlets have revealed that former Odebrecht executives have confessed that the company paid bribes of up to US$35 million to Argentine officials from 2007 to 2014.
In a statement seen by the Noticias Argentinas news agency, Casal said it had been “possible to agree on the terms of a compromise model that clears the way for prosecutors and serves as a tool, made available so that in their investigations [local prosecutors] have the possibility of accessing the information and evidence revealed in Brazil by people who decided to collaborate.”
In June 2017, former attorney general Alejandra Gils Carbó signed a initial agreement with Brazilian counterparts that fell through because of resistance of Argentine judges and prosecutors, who did not wish to grant impunity to Brazilian citizens in exchange for information.
According to a source cited by Clarín, that detail has now been hashed out, with whistleblowers now assured that “ nothing they say can be used by the Argentine justice system.” against whistleblowers, “the sources explained.
– TIMES/NA
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