Two top executives involved in Brazil's ongoing corruption scandals are competing to reach a plea bargain with Brazilian authorities.
Two top executives from Brazil's Odebrecht and OAS construction multinationals, which stand at the center of a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal, are in competition to secure a plea bargain from federal authorities which could implicate a staggering 29 percent of the nation's elected officials, Brazilian media outlets reported Sunday.
The legal defendants of Marcelo Odebrecht told the press Sunday that their client has already agreed to participate in a deal that would implicate over 175 deputies and senators from the 594 currently serving in the National Congress.
However, Odebrecht is also in competition with his former business rival Leo Pinheiro, a former executive with OAS, since prosecutors have indicated they may only issue one plea bargain deal.
As part of the agreement, Brazilian authorities are requesting that both Odebrecht and Pinheiro provide new information and concrete testimonies to help prove that Brazilian politicians accepted bribes and in exchange granted government infrastructure contracts to the companies of Odebrecht and OAS.
In 2014, Odebrdecht built highways, shipyards, airports, subways and venues for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, netting a total revenue of US$46 billion.
The Brazilian task force in charge of carrying out these investigations believes that Odebrecht and Pinheiro can provide details of around US$13 billion in dirty contracts.
According to Odebrecht’s legal team, the preliminary terms of his plea bargain will include testimony and evidence linking hundreds of Brazil’s most powerful politicians in the illegal bribery scheme, including current President Michel Temer.
Temer, who earlier this week was officially implicated in separate corruption allegations, has already seen three of his newly appointed ministers resign over their involvement in corruption charges.
The exact terms of Odebrecht's plea bargain are still being negotiated with authorities but are also expected to include evidence showing the participation of nearly 50 company executives who had, at different times, some level of participation in the "illicit and illegal financing" of political activities scheme.