Brazil Arrests Former Government Minister

Brazil's federal police on Monday arrested former government minister Jose Dirceu, ensnaring the most senior member of the country's ruling party yet in a massive investigation into alleged corruption at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Dirceu, chief-of-staff of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration between 2003 and 2005, was already under house detention for conducting a vote-buying scheme during Lula's Worker's Party government.

Federal police received seven other arrest warrants and 26 search-and-seizure warrants in the latest round of the "Car Wash" operation that has roiled the administration of President Dilma Rousseff.

Police will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Brasilia time (1300 GMT) to provide further details.

The investigation, which began in March 2014, has led to jail for some of Brazil's most senior engineering executives and caused Petrobras to write off more than $2 billion in losses related to the case.

Dozens of lawmakers, mostly from Rousseff's governing coalition, have also been accused of taking bribes in the alleged kickback scheme.

Reporting by Silvio Cascione