An investigation into Latin America’s largest construction group is steering prosecutors to a transnational money laundering scheme allegedly conducted through Swiss branches of banks including HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Canada and Deutsche Bank AG.
Bernardo Freiburghaus, 47, a Brazilian-Swiss dual citizen, is accused by a judge in Brazil of setting up a money laundering operation for Odebrecht SA as part of what prosecutors say was a pay-to-play scheme at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA. He allegedly oversaw the movement of illicit money to Switzerland from countries including Brazil and the U.S. More than $100 million held by his clients has already been seized from Swiss accounts and returned to authorities in Brazil. Freiburghaus’s lawyer denied wrongdoing by her client.
Propsecutors say investigators have uncovered correspondence between international banks and Freiburghaus about Brazilian clients, including former Petrobras employees, some of whom have been sentenced to jail for money laundering and are now collaborating with authorities. Prosecutors say Freiburghaus’s dealings with the banks were a key factor leading to the arrest in June of Odebrecht’s chief executive officer, Marcelo Odebrecht– the most prominent executive implicated in a scandal that has hobbled the economy and weighed on the presidency of Dilma Rousseff.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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