By Samindra Kunti
March 24 – Brazil’s Lavo Jato scandal is further escalating. This time bribes may have been offered in relation to the construction of Arena Corinthians, a 2014 FIFA World Cup venue.
The Car Wash investigation, or Lava Jato, commenced as a probe into money laundering, but incrementally expanded to cover allegations of widespread corruption at state-controlled oil company Petrobas. Executives may have accepted billions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in return for awarding contracts to construction firms at inflated prices, according to the investigation. Several high-ranking politicians and top business leaders have been implicated.
Chapter 26 of Lavo Jato, called Operation Xepa, is investigating bribes with the active involvement of Marcelo Odebrecht, who has been imprisoned and convicted, in relation to the construction of Sao Paulo’s World Cup stadium, the Arena Corinthians. Odebrecht was the CEO of the Brazilian family conglomerate Odebrecht, founded in 1944 by Norberto Odebrecht, with businesses in engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals.
The state-of-the-art venue in the northeast of Brazil’s biggest city hosted the opening match of FIFA’s flagship event between Brazil and Croatia in 2014. Argentina progressed to the final after a penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands at the same venue.
The bill for the stadium’s construction bloated from a provisional $356 million to $513 million.
“In relation to the World Cup stadiums, we have indications they are part of Lavo Jato, including accusations in progress,” said the federal prosecutor of the public ministry Carlos Santos de Lima. “At this stage, payments have been identified to a board member [at Odebrecht], who specifically took care of the Arena Corinthians. But we don’t have clarity yet about all the transactions.”
The federal police detained Andre Luiz de Oliveira, the first vice-president of Corinthians, to testify. He received €121,000 in bribes, according to the public ministry. Police found two firearms at his home. After his testimony, he was imprisoned for the illegal possession of firearms, but de Oliveira was released later that same day on bail.
“We are the victims,” said congressman and former Corinthians president Andres Sanchez.
“They want to include us [Corinthians] in whatever way possible [in Lavo Jato], because of my friendship with Lula,” Sanchez told Brazilian media last month. “I want them to purchase this. I want the stadium to be part of Lavo Jato. They can investigate. They can call me and I will explain everything.”
In an official statement Corinthians declared that they will put their house in order and cooperate with the investigation.
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