RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul. 9 (Xinhua) -- Industrial conglomerate Odebrecht signed a leniency deal with the Brazilian government to return some 2.7 billion reals (699 million U.S. dollars), Brazil's Attorney-General's Office announced on Monday.
Of the total, 900 million reals (233 million dollars) represent the bribes paid to 150 public officials, 1.3 billion (336 million dollars) is part of the profit Odebrecht reaped from illicit deals with the authorities, and 442 million (114 million dollars) is in fines.
The money will be returned in installments with interest in up to 22 years. After adjustments for inflation, the total amount can reach 6.8 billion reals (1.76 billion dollars), the Attorney-General's Office estimated.
Odebrecht also agreed to adopt more transparent practices in future dealings with Brazil's authorities. Any future contract will be monitored closely by government inspectors.
The Brazilian conglomerate with interests in engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals has been under a global corruption investigation for offering bribes to win contracts.
