Former political leader and attorney-at-law Harold Lovell has responded to recent comments made by Prime Minister Gaston Browne in Parliament, distancing himself from any wrongdoing in the long-running Odebrecht controversy.

In a press release issued on Saturday, Lovell rejected any suggestion of involvement in the bribery scandal that has attracted international scrutiny since 2016. He stated that his legal engagement in 2014, involving the liquidation of the Antigua Overseas Bank, was unrelated to the Brazilian construction firm at the centre of the global investigation.

“I have said publicly, and have the documents to prove, that I represented several persons in a civil matter referred to me by Luis Franca in December 2014. My six-month contract had nothing to do with Odebrecht or Meinl Bank,” Lovell wrote.

He also said he met with Franca and then-Ambassador Casroy James in Miami that month and emphasised that he was not in the United States during the time of a separate alleged meeting in August 2015.

According to Lovell, he publicly disclosed details of his professional engagement during a 2017 sitting of the Senate and provided documentary evidence at a press conference that same year. He reiterated that there were no secret dealings and that he acted transparently in his role as legal counsel.

In the statement, Lovell urged the Prime Minister not to use his name to deflect from other matters, stating: “This is a distraction from issues that merit public attention.”

While Prime Minister Browne has denied any wrongdoing in the Odebrecht matter, Lovell has called on the government to launch a formal investigation to lay lingering questions to rest.

The Prime Minister has not issued any new public statement in response to Lovell’s release.