Irregularities in public works contracts with Odebrecht cost the Peruvian economy $283m between 1998 and 2015, the comptroller said.
The Brazilian builder won 23 public projects worth more than $16.9bn in the 17-year stretch, including 16 projects worth $11.3bn that were reviewed by the comptroller, Edgar Alarcon told reporters.
The comptroller has sent reports to the judiciary and the attorney general’s office, including findings on the Gasoducto Sur Peruano (GSP) natural gas pipeline concession and Line 1 of the Lima Metro, Alarcon said.
In the case of the IIRSA highway concessions, the comptroller found that the project costs rose 93% from the initial estimates. The costs for the IIRSA Sur jumped to $2.35bn from $1.18bn, while investments in the IIRSA Norte climbed to $510m from $258m and spending on the IIRSA Centro went to $127m from $100m, the comptroller said.
Odebrecht was involved in 57 public works projects between 1979 and 2015, the comptroller said.
The company paid $29m in bribes in Peru between 2005 and 2014, according to a plea agreement it signed in late December. Odebrecht tried to sell a controlling stake in the GSP concession to US natural gas company Sempra Energy, but the deal fell through in November. Canada’s Brookfield could now buy a majority share, although China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is also reportedly interested in acquiring the pipeline.
Odebrecht recently sold sell its concessions in the Olmos irrigation project in Peru to Brookfield and Suez. The Brazilian firm is also looking for a buyer for the Chaglla hydroelectric power plant in Peru.
Odebrecht has agreed to make a $9m upfront payment, but President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has said the company should pay at least PEN90m ($26.3m), plus penalties and fines from the bribery scandal. The government could keep any money that Odebrecht makes from the sale of its stake in the GSP, Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne said earlier this week in an interview on local television station Canal N.