RIO DE JANEIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government on Monday announced it reached a leniency deal with construction giant Odebrecht, whose executives ran a multinational bribery ring to secure lucrative public works contracts.
Under the agreement, the company will gradually pay some 2.7 billion reals (about 700 million U.S. dollars) to government coffers over the next 22 years.
At a joint press conference in Brasilia, Transparency Minister Wagner Rosario and Attorney General Grace Mendonca revealed the details of the agreement between the government and Latin America's largest construction company.
Of the total sum, about 233 million dollars are to compensate the bribes executives paid out to about 150 officials, about 337 million dollars are for the irregular contracts signed with officials, and about 114 million dollars are a fine against the firm.
Previously, Odebrecht had agreed to pay some 1 billion dollars for damages to authorities in Brazil, the United States and Switzerland, and according to Mendonca, the 2.7 billion reals are part of that total.
Another 1.09 billion reals (about 283 million dollars) are to be divided among the three countries.
After one of the biggest corruption scandals in Latin America's history surfaced, the company pledged to implement ethical standards in its business dealings.
The scandal has ruined the reputation of numerous officials, including heads of state.
The Brazilian authorities had analyzed 49 government contracts with Odebrecht before arriving at the damages, said Mendonca.
"Having taken into account all of that information, today we have the maturity to sign a leniency deal," she said.
