Home / Issues / Odebrecht S.A. corporate guilty plea to FCPA bribery conspiracy (December 2016)
Odebrecht S.A. corporate guilty plea to FCPA bribery conspiracy (December 2016)
Settledas of 31 Oct 2026United States; Brazil; SwitzerlandOdebrecht S.A. (now Novonor S.A.)draft
Current status
Confirmed fact · as of 21 Dec 2016
Odebrecht S.A. pleaded GUILTY in US federal court to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA anti-bribery provisions - a corporate criminal guilty plea (distinct from a deferred prosecution agreement).
A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Unanswered question · as of 21 Dec 2016
The final ability-to-pay determination and the exact confirmed total Odebrecht ultimately paid (within the USD 2.6bn-USD 4.5bn range) are not fixed by the 21 December 2016 announcement relied on here and are not asserted in this record. A separate primary company (Odebrecht/Novonor) press statement for December 2016 was not located.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Last reviewed 31 Oct 2026. An initial allegation is not the final event; this block is always shown.
How it unfolded
Issue raised · 21 Dec 2016
Proposition: US, Brazilian and Swiss authorities alleged that Odebrecht S.A. operated a dedicated bribery department that paid hundreds of millions of dollars in corrupt payments to government officials, political parties and others across numerous countries to obtain and retain business, in violation of the anti-bribery provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Affected parties: Odebrecht S.A. (now Novonor S.A.), U.S. Department of Justice, Brazil Ministerio Publico Federal, Switzerland Office of the Attorney General
Originating record: A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Response · Odebrecht S.A. (now Novonor S.A.) · 21 Dec 2016
Attributed claim · as of 21 Dec 2016
Odebrecht's response is recorded in the resolution itself: the company pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information and, through the coordinated agreements with the DOJ, Brazil's Ministerio Publico Federal and Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General, accepted responsibility for the conduct and agreed to cooperate and to pay the agreed penalties. A separate contemporaneous primary company press statement was not located for this record. — Odebrecht S.A.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Outcome · U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal Division Fraud Section and U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York), coordinated with Brazil's Ministerio Publico Federal and Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General · 21 Dec 2016
judgmentbinding
Confirmed fact · as of 21 Dec 2016
On 21 December 2016 Odebrecht S.A. PLEADED GUILTY to a one-count criminal information charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA - a corporate guilty plea, not a deferred prosecution agreement. The agreed criminal fine was USD 4.5bn subject to an ability-to-pay analysis, with Odebrecht representing that it could pay about USD 2.6bn; the United States and Switzerland were each to receive 10% of the criminal fine principal and Brazil 80%. Sentencing was scheduled for April 2017. In a parallel resolution the affiliated petrochemical company Braskem S.A. also pleaded guilty to a one-count FCPA anti-bribery conspiracy information, with a USD 632m criminal penalty plus USD 325m in SEC disgorgement (combined US/Brazil/Swiss penalties of about USD 957m). The DOJ described the combined Odebrecht and Braskem resolutions of at least USD 3.5bn as the largest-ever global foreign bribery resolution.
A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
Remedy: Corporate criminal fine (USD 4.5bn agreed, reduced by ability-to-pay to about USD 2.6bn for Odebrecht), split 10% US / 10% Switzerland / 80% Brazil; full cooperation and compliance obligations. Braskem's separate penalty was USD 632m plus USD 325m SEC disgorgement.
Appeal/review: concluded — The guilty plea was entered subject to court acceptance and proceeded to sentencing in 2017; the criminal fine was subject to an ability-to-pay determination. A U.S. Department of Justice, Odebrecht and Braskem Plead Guilty and Agree to Pay at Least $3.5 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Largest Foreign Bribery Case in History (21 Dec 2016) · retrieved 31 Oct 2026
How to read this. Allegation, response and outcome are separate, dated records. "Decided/resolved" appears only where a cited outcome supports it. Materially affected parties can request a correction via Corrections & response.