Determining Overpricing in Brazilian Infrastructure Projects: A Forensic Approach

Abstract

Corruption has become an innate feature of Brazil’s construction industry, particularly the procurement of infrastructure projects. Consequently, the Brazilian Federal Police are actively pursuing individuals and companies who are engaged with corruptive practices, particularly overpricing. To address the issue of overpricing in infrastructure projects, this paper describes the current method used by the Brazilian Federal Police and presents a probabilistic approach that is deemed to be a more reliable approach for determining its occurrence. This paper provides legal fraternities in other developing countries facing similar problems with additional support to ensure convictions for overpricing are pursued. Limitations of the current method and future research toward the development of a probabilistic method are identified.