Judge prevents a prosecutor from removing from the investigation the former Odebrecht director in Peru

Peruvian judge Richard Concepción today denied to the Prosecutor's Office the exclusion of former Odebrecht director in Peru Jorge Barata from the investigation for the bribes paid by the construction company Brazilian to Peruvian officials in exchange for awarding millionaires contracts in public works.

Lima, Nov 17 (EFE) .- Peruvian Judge Richard Concepción today denied the Prosecutor's Office the exclusion of former Odebrecht director in Peru Jorge Barata from the investigation for paid bribes by the Brazilian construction company to Peruvian officials in exchange for awarding millionaire contracts in public works.

Concepción, holder of the First Court of Preparatory Investigation National, determined that the Prosecutor's Office can not unilaterally exclude Barata because the investigation of the Odebrecht case is already in the preparatory phase and that decision requires judicial intervention.

The magistrate urged the Prosecutor to request before the court the exclusion of Barata so that the court can decide and issue the decision correspond.

"If the request is raised, the court would convene a hearing and immediately resolve," the judge said.

Barata, who is charged by the crime of collusion in tort of the State, allegedly requested the Prosecutor's Office to be excluded from the investigation to continue as an effective collaborator and continue to provide information on the beneficiaries of the bribes given by their company in the country.

In Peru, the Odebrecht case focuses on tracing the trail of the 29 million dollars that the company The Brazilian government admitted to US courts that it had paid bribes to Peruvian officials in exchange for awarding millions of works between 2005 and 2014.

That period covers the mandates presidential elections of Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), who has an arrest warrant for receiving a presumed bribe of 20 million dollars; investigations for gifts for the Lima Metro, and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), imprisoned for the alleged irregular financing of his party.