Reports: Odebrecht To Pay Fines Of Up To $2.6 Bln To Settle Bribery Claims

(RTTNews) - Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht SA is close to agreeing to pay fines of up to $2.6 billion to authorities in U.S., Brazil and Switzerland to resolve a global investigation into bribes paid by the company across the world to secure business contracts, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The settlement is said to be partly related to the corruption scandal at Brazilian state-owned oil company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (PZE), commonly known as Petrobras.

It also comes on the heels of a $957 million settlement announced last week by Braskem SA, Odebrecht's petrochemical unit. The Odebrecht group now faces total corruption-related fines of about $3.5 billion.

The Brazilian investigation into the Petrobras scandal, known as Operation Car Wash, has led to the arrests of several business executives, rocked the country's politics and also hurt investment in Brazil's oil and infrastructure sector.