Local law enforcement authorities are investigating the involvement of Antiguans and Barbudans in the Odebrecht scandal, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed.
He said the Office of the National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy (ONDCP) is the competent authority carrying out the probe.
Browne said the ONDCP “operates independently of the minister of finance.”
The prime minister also said he had “no difficulty” making the findings of the probe known although he did not indicate the exact scope of the investigation.
Information implicating an Antiguan government official was revealed in a New York court as part of US investigations into a bribery scheme conducted by the Brazil based construction conglomerate Odebrecht.
The US authorities have not named the two individuals, only describing them as “a consular official” and “an intermediary to a high-level official”.
A €3 million bribe was allegedly paid in exchange for the official’s promise not to provide international authorities with banking records revealing illicit payments from Odebrecht.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne insists that he has not received any bribes.
It is also alleged that the Brazilian construction giant, Odebrecht, acquired Meinl Bank Antigua Limited, exclusively to launder funds.
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setting rat to watch cheese
If they are independent why is the PM anouncing this ? OH please. Also, he should not be involved in releasing any information from the probe. He should get it the same time the public get it. No wonder he tell the man give back the money. Cause he knows the shot will hit the fan
And there is yet any evidence provided to the nation to support the contention that the money is given back. Gaston Browne must take all of us for a bunch of fools. He is seriously implicated in the scandal and he must come clean and clear his name and stop hiding behind a meaningless ONDCP enquiry. The ONDCP enquiry will be similar to Gaston Browne’s contention (when the scandal first broke) that Ambassador Ron Sanders will engage a lawyer in Washington to investigate who was with Casroy in Miami. Ask Gaston Browne for the report of the Washington lawyer? Gaston Browne is just full of all lying talk, which is just fit for all his gullible, mindless and sycophantic supporters.
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