Whistleblowers and witnesses

Who spoke and what became of their words: cooperating witnesses, plea-bargain testimonies, informants who later recanted and protected witnesses. We check each statement against what the courts found proven, what benefits the witness obtained and which agreements were annulled.

Roberto Prieto: The Live Confession That Went Unpunished, the Witness Who Put Him on the Map, and the Indictment That Will Send Him Back to the Dock in 2026

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Roberto Prieto is the only person featured in this series who confessed to a crime in a radio interview and was not punished for it. On March 14, 2017, the former manager of Juan Manuel Santos’s reelection campaign admitted on Blu Radio that Odebrecht had paid for the 2010 campaign posters. The National Electoral Council … Read more about Roberto Prieto: The Live Confession That Went Unpunished, the Witness Who Put Him on the Map, and the Indictment That Will Send Him Back to the Dock in 2026

Ñoño Elías: The senator who was implicated by Otto Bula, who pleaded guilty three times and ultimately testified against the president of the ANI

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Bernardo Miguel Elías Vidal, known as “Ñoño,” has been on both sides of the dock in this series. First, he was the one implicated. In 2017, intermediary Otto Bula identified him as the senator who secured the addition of the Ocaña-Gamarra section for Odebrecht. Later, he became a witness. In May 2021, he testified in … Read more about Ñoño Elías: The senator who was implicated by Otto Bula, who pleaded guilty three times and ultimately testified against the president of the ANI

Sérgio Cabral: The Whistleblower Who Confessed to US$100 Million, the Plea Deal That the Supreme Court Overturned, and the Witnesses Whose Convictions Stood

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Sérgio Cabral is the most contradictory whistleblower in this series. In February 2019, after he had already been convicted and imprisoned, he signed a cooperation agreement with the Brazilian Federal Police. He confessed to having accepted large bribes and to having US$100 million abroad. Two years later, the Federal Supreme Court annulled that agreement. The … Read more about Sérgio Cabral: The Whistleblower Who Confessed to US$100 Million, the Plea Deal That the Supreme Court Overturned, and the Witnesses Whose Convictions Stood

Ollanta Humala: The 220 witnesses who testified against him, the 57 donors who denied having paid, and why his word was not enough to uphold the sentence

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Ollanta Humala was convicted in April 2025 based on evidence consisting almost entirely of witness testimony. The Third National Criminal Court heard 220 witnesses during a three-year trial. In addition, fifty-seven of them testified that they never made the donations that the Nationalist Party recorded in their names. Fifteen months later, the Constitutional Court overturned … Read more about Ollanta Humala: The 220 witnesses who testified against him, the 57 donors who denied having paid, and why his word was not enough to uphold the sentence

Otto Bula: The Witness Who Pinned the Odebrecht Case in Colombia, Whom He Named, What Convictions His Testimony Led To, and What Price He Paid for Cooperating

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Otto Bula is the most productive witness in this entire series. No other informant from the region has seen his testimony lead to so many final convictions. Arrested in January 2017, the former Liberal senator went from being an Odebrecht intermediary to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office’s primary source in just a few weeks. His … Read more about Otto Bula: The Witness Who Pinned the Odebrecht Case in Colombia, Whom He Named, What Convictions His Testimony Led To, and What Price He Paid for Cooperating

Emilio Lozoya: The Whistleblower Who Spoke Out for Half a Presidential Term, the Agreement the Prosecutor’s Office Rejected, and What His Testimony Actually Achieved in Six Years

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Emilio Lozoya is the only defendant in this case who attempted to become a witness against his own government. Upon his extradition to Mexico in July 2020, the former director of Pemex requested to be granted leniency. In other words, he sought to testify against others in exchange for benefits. For three years, he implicated … Read more about Emilio Lozoya: The Whistleblower Who Spoke Out for Half a Presidential Term, the Agreement the Prosecutor’s Office Rejected, and What His Testimony Actually Achieved in Six Years