Brazil Corruption Probe Reaches Eletrobras

Brazilian federal police said on Tuesday they were completing two arrest warrants as part of a corruption investigation into Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of state-run electric utility Eletrobras.

The investigation that had previously focused on graft at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA is investigating price fixing and cartel formation at the Angra 3 nuclear reactor, police said in a statement.

Federal police called a press conference for 10 a.m. (1 p.m. GMT), to discuss the operation, which also included 23 search and seizure warrants in several cities including Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

The detainees will be taken to Curitiba, the epicenter of Brazil's largest ever corruption investigation.

The investigation involves the same engineering firms already being investigated for forming a cartel to overcharge Petrobras, as the oil major is known, the statement said.

A prosecutor and federal police agent told Reuters last month they had evidence the scheme to overcharge Petrobras for work and pass on the excess as bribes to executives and politicians likely operated at Eletrobras as well.

Corruption likely affected Belo Monte, a giant dam in the Amazon, as well as Angra 3, Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima said in an interview last month. Both Belo Monte and Angra 3 are still under construction and have been hit with multiple delays.

Eletrobras declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Reporting by Caroline Stauffer