Odebrecht implicates Colombia's Aval Group in graft scheme

Colombian conglomerate Grupo Aval's claims not to be involved in the Odebrecht bribes scandal were called into question by the Brazilian firm, after it cast doubt on Aval's assertion that it had no knowledge of illegal payments made to officials.

Following the death of a key witness in the investigation into the now-cancelled Ruta del Sol II concession, Grupo Aval, which was allegedly involved through subsidiaries Corficolombiana and Estudios y Proyectos del Sol, issued an statement in which it denied any knowledge of the bribes paid by Odebrecht before December 2016.

In response Odebrecht stated in a release that the head of Corficolombiana, José Melo was charged in 2017 with bribery in the investigation into the contract, a process that is still going through the courts.

Odebrecht recalled that one of the witnesses called in that process was Jorge Pizano, the witness that died last week, who previously worked as an auditor for Corficolombiana. He said during the probe that Melo had been informed of the alleged irregularities in the highway contract.

Earlier this week, Noticias Uno published a series of recordings made by Pizano before his death from a heart attack, including a 2015 conversation with the country's head prosecutor Néstor Gutiérrez (then a lawyer for Corfocolombiana), allegedly showing that the latter also knew about the bribes before they were made public.

Because of the process against Melo and the statements made by Pizano, Odebrecht said the statements by Aval were "questionable."

Meanwhile, Pizano's son Alejandro also died this week, reportedly after having drunk from a bottle of flavored water in his father's study that is said to have contained cyanide. Colombian prosecutors announced that they will examine whether the his father was poisoned as well, Radio RCN reported.