RIO DE JANEIRO: Eduardo Paes – the former Mayor of Rio de Janeiro – has been accused of committing passive corruption and bid fraud during the construction of a venue for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The complaint, filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and accepted by the Third Federal Criminal Court of Rio, is related to the alleged direction in the bidding for the construction of the Deodoro Olympic Park.

According to the MPF, a consortium of companies was favoured in the construction of buildings in the northern area of the complex, as reported by Globo.

This included the Olympic Whitewater Stadium, BMX centre, mountain bike park, hockey centre, shooting centre, Youth Arena and Deodoro Stadium, the construction of which totalled BRL$660million (£104million/$129million/€116million).

Prosecutors claim there was a deliberate intention to restrict the participation of different companies in the bidding race.

Around 40 contracts were allegedly interested in the tender, but the complexity of building a number of venues with different requirements meant only the consortium of Brazilian construction companies, comprising Queiroz Galvão and OAS, were able to submit a proposal.

It is also alleged that Queiroz Galvão did not have the technical certificate for the construction of multipurpose venues, with Pues initiating the creation of a consortium with OAS to circumvent this issue.

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