Brazilian Police Begin New Round of Petrobras Arrests

Brazilian police carried out on Monday a new round of arrests and search and seizure operations in the corruption probe involving state-run oil firm Petrobras, local media said.

A former executive of engineering firm Engevix was arrested for allegedly paying bribes to officials at Brazil's state-run nuclear power firm Eletronuclear, according to Globo TV.

Federal police also conducted seven search and seizure operations in the 19th round of the so-called Car Wash operation, Globo and newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported.

A police spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

Eletronuclear's long-time head, retired admiral Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva, was arrested in July for allegedly taking 4.5 million reais ($1.35 million) in bribes from engineering firms working on the Angra 3 nuclear power plant.

Dozens of leading Brazilian executives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation for overcharging Petrobras and other state firms on contracts and using the excess to bribe politicians.

Reporting by Silvio Cascione