Brazil's Odebrecht turns over new leaf with leniency deal

Jul 10, 2018 11:55 5 min read (Updated: Mar 16, 2022 12:22)

For decades, corruption has been an integral part of the corporate culture at Odebrecht. So much so that Brazil’s largest construction firm has an entire department exclusively dedicated to the payment of bribes to public officials. Ambiguously named the “Structured Operations division,” until 2015 it had five staff members and a separate office at Odebrecht headquarters.

This division boosted the company’s growth and international presence. Annual revenues reached BRL 97 billion in 2013. But after the launch of Operation Car Wash, the largest anti-corruption investigation in Brazilian history, prosecutors managed to prove that the company paid over BRL 12 billion...

Odebrecht turns over new leaf with leniency deal

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