2 People Charged for Helping Brazilian Company Violate FCPA

The Justice Department charged two people for allegedly helping a Brazil construction company bribe government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a July 6 news release said. Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares aided a “massive” bribery and money laundering scheme by Odebrecht S.A., which previously pleaded guilty to paying more than $700 million in bribes to government officials and others to retain business and secure contracts (see 1911210023 and 1910150030), DOJ said.

Both men allegedly worked as intermediaries for about $28 million of the bribe payments made by Odebrecht to a high-ranking government official in Panama, DOJ said. It alleged the two used secret bank accounts to move the bribes and sent wire transfers through a shell company to hide the payments. Many of the transfers were made through U.S. banks, DOJ said.