Brazil convicts 10 Embraer execs in Super Tucano graft case

Santo Domingo.-  A Brazilian judge on Mon. convicted 10 executives of plane maker Embraer for having paid US$3.5 million in bribes to a Dominican Air Force colonel in exchange for securing the sale of eight warplanes

Rio de Janeiro criminal court judge Marcelo Bretas ruled for the prosecution which charged the former executives of bribing the now retired colonel Carlos Piccini Núñez, who was then director of the. Dominican Air Force’s special projects, local media reported today.

According to the case file, Embraer’s former executives, including vice president Eduardo Muñoz de Campos, bribed Piccini to secure the sale of eight Super Tucano aircraft to the Dominican Republic for around US$92.0 million.

The US Department of Justice uncovered the admitted bribe and tipped off the Brazilian authorities.

Embraer recently paid US$7.0 million to the State and delivered to the Dominican Justice Ministry the documents listing who received the bribes in the country, which includes former Armed Forces secretary Rafael Peña Antonio.