Odebrecht book accuses Lava Jato of coercion in accusations – 05/12/2023 – Power

Businessman Emílio Odebrecht claims in a book released this month that his and other executives from contractors were awarded under duress in Operation Lava Jato.

In the work, Emílio maintains that the transfers to politicians made by the company that bore his family’s name (now called Novonor) were resources from electoral slush funds, among other legal defense theses presented.

The book entitled “A War against Brazil: How Lava Jato Assaulted National Sovereignty, Weakened Brazilian Heavy Industry and Tried to Destroy the Odebrecht Group”, written in first person, also brings his positions on economic issues.

A good part of the work is dedicated to reports on the history of the author’s family and his companies, in which he praises the accomplishments obtained by the business group.

The author opens the work describing the day in June 2015 when Odebrecht and other contractors were the target of the 14th phase of Lava Jato, and his son Marcelo, who presided over the company, was arrested.

Emílio then recounts the legal battle he faced and says that a “delation factory” was set up by then judge Sergio Moro (elected senator in 2022) and by the task force of prosecutors of the Federal Public Ministry in Curitiba, at the time commanded by Deltan Dallagnol (current federal deputy).

In the discussions for closing the whistleblowing agreements, those who did not have their statements considered important could end up being the target of arrests and lawsuits, according to the businessman.

He signed the collaboration agreement in 2016. He was subsequently sentenced in an annulled sentence, but was not arrested as a result of the operation, neither before nor after the accusation.

“What scared each of us the most was staying out of the final agreement, because our life would turn into hell. That’s what the promoters promised”, he writes.

“In this environment, threatened, pressured, subjected to almost unbearable physical and mental suffering, few were able to resist determinations like this one: ‘You are here voluntarily and I want you to talk about so-and-so’. The prosecutors pointed the finger and had no limits. “

According to the author, this conduct by prosecutors led some of the whistleblowers to admit the commission of crimes of corruption in relation to acts that, in fact, constituted donations to politicians or parties.

“As we have never made donations to parties or candidates bargaining for counterparts, they themselves [procuradores] found the solution: ‘You, the collaborator, assume that the counterpart is that, in the future, the candidate can become an important politician, with power, and you will have influence over him’. And it was in this way that in hundreds of reports this text was repeated “, he says.

The work brings Emílio’s explanation about the structure set up by the contractor to make transfers to politicians, which was called the “bribery department” by prosecutors.

“What existed was a system for generating unrecorded resources, the popular ‘slush fund'”, he says.

The businessman admits that the practice is illegal, but says that it is common in the business world.

“Let’s not be hypocrites: since the invention of capitalism, it is common for medium or large companies to keep at least 1% of their revenue allocated there. It’s not right, but that’s how it is, and it serves to meet unexpected contingencies.”

The author then points out the purposes that the structure had at Odebrecht: payments in kind to suppliers, especially in conflict zones; unusual transfers, such as ransoming employees in cases of kidnapping (he says that in the last 30 years there have been 11 situations like this, in “countries of high political and social risk”); executive compensation for performance or acting under special circumstances and contributions to political campaigns.

Emílio, 78, also discusses the fact that Odebrecht financed the renovation at the site in Atibaia (SP) that was frequented by President Lula (PT), but does not reveal the reason why he authorized the works.

The businessman repeats testimonies given to the authorities by stating that the request for the contractor to renovate the site came from the then first lady, Marisa Letícia, and denies that he committed a crime in the episode.

“Lula would leave the Presidency at the end of that year [2010] and my gesture was not linked to any thanks or expectation of future retribution. In a few days the government would be different “, he writes.

In the final part of the book, the author defends the theses that “Lava Jato broke the Brazilian economy” and that this situation had the guidance of United States authorities, with the aim of harming Brazilian companies that offered competition to American companies to the era.

Sergio Moro and the Lava Jato prosecutors have always denied having conducted Lava Jato’s accusations, processes and investigations illegally, even after the STF (Federal Supreme Court) annulled part of the actions when judging that the former judge acted with partiality in the causes.