MEXICO CITY: Mexican prosecutors have ordered the former chief executive of state oil company Pemex to answer questions about allegations he took $10 million in bribes from scandal-stained Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Emilio Lozoya, who headed Pemex from 2012 to 2016 and is close to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, is the latest big name in Latin American politics and business to be caught up in the swirling scandal around Odebrecht. He “will appear before prosecutors on Thursday, responding to a summons from the attorney general’s office,” a prosecution source told AFP, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to give details on the investigation. Odebrecht, the largest construction firm in Latin America, has admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to win juicy contracts in 12 countries, including Mexico. In hopes of getting lighter sentences, its executives have been dishing dirt to Brazilian prosecutors about who received the payments — and Lozoya is the latest heavy hitter to be named, according to investigation documents leaked to Brazilian newspaper Globo. Published in Daily Times, August 17th 2017.