Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht is a Brazilian businessman and the former CEO of Odebrecht, a diversified Brazilian conglomerate. In March 2016, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for paying more than $30 million in bribes. The jail sentence has been reduced to ten years in prison in December 2016 for paying a fine, admitting guilt and providing evidence to authorities.
After received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Universidade Federal da Bahia, Marcelo joined Odebrecht in 1992, and was appointed CEO in 2008. He became vice president of the Brazilian Association of Infra-Structure and Primary Industry in 2005, and vice president of COINFRA, FIESP in 2004. He is chairman of Odebrecht Óleo E Gás, Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias, Foz Do Brasil and Eth Bioenergia S.A. He is chairman of Braskem S.A. He serves is a director of the Exterior Commerce Chamber CONEX since 2005, a member of the strategic superior board of Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo since 2008 and a director of the Industry Development Study Institute, IEDI since 2003.
On 19 June 2015, he was arrested as part of a major investigation, Operation Car Wash, into corruption at the state-owned oil companyPetrobras. Otávio Azevedo, CEO of Andrade Gutierrez, Brazil's second largest construction firm, was also arrested, along with a total of ten others, including senior Odebrecht executives. On 8 March 2016, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, after being convicted of paying more than $30 million in bribes. In 5 November 2017, Marcelo Odebrecht, his father and his brother were named in the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, and was revealed that his company used at least one offshore company as a vehicle for the payment of bribes in the Operation Car Wash. In December 2017 he was released from jail on house arrest. This was part of a leniency deal in which he is paying a $2 billion fine, admitting guilt and providing evidence to authorities.
Personal life
He and his wife, Isabela, have three daughters: Rafa, Gabi and Mari.
