A CRIMINAL  investigation into the Panama operation of Brazilian   construction company Odebrecht has been re-opened by a Panama judge.

In a ruling signed December  22 and released this week, Oscar Carrasquilla, the 12th criminal judge of the First Judicial Circuit, said that there are sufficient merits to reopen the process, for the possible commission of crimes against economic order. and that the company could also be committing the "crime of money laundering, due to the facts related to the Lava Jato investigation, which began in Brazil."

The ruling was signed the same day that the company admitted to paying bribes of at least $59 million to Panamanian officials between 2010 and 2014.

The judge's decision was based on a request from the Seventh Anti­Corruption Prosecutor's Office on Nov. 11 to reopen the process.

The original complaint that accused Odebrecht of laundering money through the Panamanian banking system. was filed in September 2015.