In Brazil, Petrobras quagmire sucks in more people
The corruption scandal surrounding Brazil’s Petrobras corporation has most recently led to issuance of arrest warrants against more people.
The new round of arrests started on Monday, with federal police saying they had warrants against 18 people in connection with the graft case, which has cast a long shadow over the state-owned oil giant.
Though nobody has yet been convicted, dozens of political figures and former Petrobras executives are under suspicion over a scheme facilitating corruption and money laundering that saw an estimated USD 3.8 billion creamed off inflated contracts over a decade.
Prosecutors have reportedly uncovered documents on some USD 800 million in illegal funds such as bribes, kickbacks, and price-fixing.
“The warrants are being carried out in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro,” a police statement said of the arrest orders issued against the 18 people.
Petrobras’s former director of services, Renato Duque, allegedly a key figure in the scheme, is among those to be arrested.
Sunday saw tens of thousands of people attending anti-government demonstrations (pictured below) countrywide to protest against the administration of President Dilma Rousseff.
The protests, which were staged in at least 50 cities, marked the ceremonial 30th anniversary of the end of a brutal dictatorship that lasted over 20 years.
In Sao Paulo, 200,000 people reportedly attended an anti-Rousseff rally, while in the capital, Brasilia, protesters waved flags and held signs reading, “Impeach Rousseff!,” and, “Corruption: How much longer are you going to be here?”
Rousseff, who served as the head of Petrobras before taking office in 2010, also faces criticism for failing to act against corruption during her tenure at the oil company and later as the president of Brazil.
On Thursday, prosecutors said they will investigate Luiz Fernando Pezao, the governor of Rio State, his predecessor Sergio Cabral, and Tiao Viana, the governor of the northern state of Acre, in the case surrounding the company.
A statement from the attorney general’s office said it had “detected evidence of passive corruption and money laundering” against the three men.
HN/HSN/SS
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