Ex-Pemex CEO Lozoya Denies Receiving $10 Million Odebrecht Bribe

(Bloomberg) -- Former Petroleos Mexicanos Chief Executive Officer Emilio Lozoya denied media reports that he received $10 million in an alleged bribery scheme involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA in Mexico.

“I have never participated in acts of corruption. These publications have lied repeatedly on this and other issues, and have never proven their allegations,” Lozoya said in an emailed response to questions. “I categorically deny the charges and the information that refers to alleged acts of request and/or acceptance of bribes directly or indirectly on my part from Odebrecht or its officials.”

Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that Odebrecht bribed Lozoya in exchange for being awarded a $115 million bid for works on a oil refinery based in Tula, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. Citing confidential documents related to the testimony of a former Odebrecht executive, O Globo said the alleged payments started in 2012, when Lozoya was one of the main members of the campaign committee of the current Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto and not yet working at Pemex. Mexico’s Proceso and Aristegui Noticias also reported on the alleged bribes.

In the email, Lozoya said Pena Nieto’s campaign didn’t ask for or receive contributions from foreign companies, including Odebrecht. Officials may also have the incentive to lie to try to get reduced sentences, he said.

Pemex’s press office declined to comment on the allegations against Lozoya, who ran the state-owned oil producer from December 2012 to February 2016.

Odebrecht is a key player in Brazil’s sprawling Carwash probe, which revealed a massive, years-long kickback scheme involving the contractor that has implicated many of the country’s business and political elite. Odebrecht signed a leniency agreement in Brazil and in some of the countries in which it operates, such as Panama, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

To contact the reporters on this story: Christine Jenkins in Bogota at cjenkins28@bloomberg.net, Fabiana Batista in Sao Paulo at fbatista6@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez