Brazil construction firm ordered to pay $2.6B in bribe case


Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht was ordered on Monday to pay $2.6 billion in fines to settle charges it bribed officials in a dozen countries.

The payout order, by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, came after U.S. and Brazilian authorities determined after a plea agreement was reached in December that Odebrecht could not afford to pay more than that amount.

The company had agreed to pay up to $3.5 billion in penalties. In a federal court proceeding lasting only a few minutes, the judge imposed the terms of the December deal between the company and prosecutors, including the appointment of an independent compliance monitor for three years. The monitor has already begun work. The judge said Odebrecht will pay nearly $2.4 billion to Brazil, $116 million to Switzerland and $93 million to the United States.