RIO DE JANEIRO: In the latest twist of the Brazilian corruption saga, former Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes has been accused of accepting bribes for Olympics contracts from the construction giant Odebrecht.

Benedict Barbosa da Silva Jr, who was a senior director at Odebrecht, said in a deposition for the Attorney General’s Office that it paid almopst £4m to Paes in 2012 ahead of decisions on projects for last year’s Games.

A Supreme Court spokesman said the allegation stated that the majority of the money was paid through accounts in Brazil and the remainder in overseas banks.

Paes has been named as receiving illicit monies by other Odebrecht executives Leandro Andrade Azevedo and Luiz Eduardo da Rocha Soares.

According to Leandro André Azevedo, the former mayor negotiated a payment of £800,000 from Odebrecht for the election campaign for federal deputy Pedro Paulo in 2010. Evidence had come to light in the company’s internal ‘Drousys’ internet system.

Pedro Paulo, a protege of Paes, also benefited from illicit cash support in elections in 2012 and 2014. In the latter case he was Paes’s preferred candidate to become mayor but failed to progress beyond the first round.

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