Marcelo Odebrecht is accused by Brazil’s public prosecutor’s office of corruption, money laundering and criminal conspiracy in the high-profile Petrobras scandal.
Odebrecht has also resigned his positions as a chairmanship of Braskem, Odebrecht Oil & Gas, Odebrecht Real Estate Developments and Odebrecht Environmental, according to an official statement released by the company.
The chief executive will be substituted by Newton de Souza who will continue as President and CEO of Odebrecht and Chairman of the abovementioned companies. De Souza has been interim CEO over the last six months.
According to Brazilian authorities, major construction companies in Brazil manipulated state tenders by paying bribes to Petrobras executives linked to political parties.
In the statement the group supported the innocence of Odebrecht and believes the sentence is “unjust and unnecessary”.