Two ex-ministers arrested in Odebrecht bribe probe - Uju Ayalogu's Blog for News, Reviews, Articles and More

Breaking News

Post Top Ad

Friday 8 September 2017

Two ex-ministers arrested in Odebrecht bribe probe

Two ex-ministers arrested in Odebrecht bribe probe

Two ex-ministers have been arrested and were being detained Thursday in Panama as part of a probe into bribes paid by Brazilian construction group Odebrecht in exchange for public work contracts, prosecutors said.

Demetrio Papadimitriu, former minister of the presidency, and Jaime Ford, former public works minister, were apprehended on Wednesday. They served under former president Ricardo Martinelli, who was in power 2009-2014 and who is appealing an extradition order from the United States to face corruption and other charges in Panama.

READ ALSO:  Biafra security service trainer ‘Ebeje Nnamdi’ arrested in Anambra

The charges against Papadimitriu and Ford were not disclosed.

Ford’s lawyer, Miguel Batista, said that “from our point of view the preventative detention is illegal” and violated his client’s rights.

At the time of his arrest, Ford had been out on $500,000 bail granted in August after spending a month and a half in detention under separate accusations of pocketing millions of dollars in relation to the construction of a freeway. That case was unrelated to Odebrecht.

Papadimitriu had turned himself to prosecutors for his arrest, saying his mother had been cited in one of the cases and he was trying to prevent his family members being dragged into the matter. He denied having anything illegal to do with Oderbrecht.

Papadimitriu managed the electoral campaign that brought Martinelli to power and participated too in the 2014 campaign of Panama’s current president, Juan Carlos Varela.

Odebrecht agreed in December to pay a record $3.5 billion fine after admitting to paying $788 million in bribes across 12 countries to secure juicy public contracts.

READ ALSO:   Buhari is Not a Politician, Healthier Than Younger Nigerians, Doesn't Drink or Smoke - Garba Shehu

In Panama, it agreed to pay a $220 million fine and work with prosecutors after disclosing it had paid $59 million in bribes between 2010 and 2014.


A dozen Martinelli-era ministers have been arrested or put on bail for suspected corruption.

The former president, a 65-year-old supermarket tycoon, is alleged to have been involved in embezzlement, extortion, bribe-taking and ordering the illegal spying on communications of more than 150 prominent opponents.

As well as his fight to avoid extradition, he has applied for political asylum in the United States.

READ ALSO:   Why Atiku, Saraki, others must decamp from APC back to PDP

Are you an artiste? Do you want your music to go viral and reach a large number of audience? Promote your music and Submit your story  on Ujuayalogusblog.com by clicking here. For Advert Inquiries Tel/+44(0)7590363984 Subscribe to Ujuayalogusblog.com News!

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2015-2017 @ Uju Ayalogu's Blog NIGERIAN NEWS

For More:  Visit Us at Uju Ayalogu's Blog

Subscribe to Our Posts via Email


Share This

No comments:

Post a Comment

Listen to This Beautiful New Talent - Winter Wolf - Singing "Midnight"


Post Bottom Ad

Pages