Uruguay investigates corruption involving Mujica and OAS government

MONTEVIDEO, Nov. 17 (ANSA) - The Uruguayan Chamber of Deputies has approved the creation of a commission of inquiry into a suspected corruption case during José Mujica's term of office (2010-2015) involving the Brazilian contractor OAS. The committee was approved by only one vote of difference (50 to 49), thanks to the disobedience of Deputy Gonzalo Mujica, Frente Amplio, alliance to which the former president and his successor, Tabaré Vázquez. Despite the surname, the parliamentarian is not related to José Mujica. The objective is to investigate irregularities in the contract for the construction of a gas extraction plant operated by the GNLS energy company, a company created by the Brazilian branch of France's Gaz de France (now Engie) and the Japanese company Marubeni, and which contracted OAS for the works . Léo Pinheiro, former president of the contractor, is being held for his involvement in the corruption scandal at Petrobras. According to Deputy Pablo Abdala, of the opposition National Party, who filed the complaint, several testimony to the Brazilian Justice indicated that the operation involved bribes, in addition to the project not having been concluded, causing a loss of over US $ 65 million to the coffers The public. The case was born in October 2013, when the Uruguayan state granted GNLS the right to build and operate the plant. In turn, the company hired OAS to elaborate the project's executive project and carry it out. The Brazilian contractor subcontracted different Uruguayan companies for different tasks. According to Abdala, he obtained documents from the Brazilian courts that show that the governor of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel (PT), then Minister of Development of Dilma Rousseff, met with a senior official of the Uruguayan government to obtain the contract for OAS, What happened. Pimentel has already been indicted twice by the Federal Police on suspicion of corruption and money laundering in the campaign that elected him in 2014. He would have received a bribe from Odebrecht to release a loan from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (Bndes) while still a minister . In addition, the PF investigates alleged payment of a $ 3 million kickback to the governor by OAS, based on the awarding of the award by businessman Benedito Rodrigues Oliveira, Bené, who worked on the Pimentel campaign. The money would have been paid just to favor the contractor in Uruguay. (ANSA)