Ex-Brazilian Finance Minister to Stand Trial in Petrobras Graft Case
A former Brazilian finance minister and chief of staff for successive Workers Party (PT) governments was ordered on Thursday to stand trial on corruption and money laundering charges in an expanding graft probe around state-run oil company Petrobras. Anti-corruption Judge Sergio Moro ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Antonio Palocci…
Swiss Detain Brazilian in Petrobras Probe
Swiss authorities have arrested a Brazilian citizen linked to a criminal investigation into suspected bribes paid to former directors at Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Swiss federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Brazilian prosecutors said the Swiss had arrested Fernando Migliaccio da Silva, an executive with engineering group Odebrecht SA…
Brazil Prosecutors File Corruption Charges against Odebrecht
Brazilian prosecutors presented formal charges against Marcelo Odebrecht, head of Latin America's largest engineering firm Odebrecht SA , and Otavio Marques Azevedo, CEO of Andrade Gutierrez , and 20 others on Friday. The executives were charged with corruption, money laundering and criminal conspiracy for their alleged role in a corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
First Petrobras Scandal Convictions Announced
Three executives of Brazil's Camargo Correa group were convicted on Monday of money laundering, corruption and other charges, the first construction-industry executives to be sentenced in a giant price fixing and bribery scandal involving state-run oil company Petrobras. Dalton dos Santos Avancini, chief executive officer of Camargo Correa Construções e Participações SA…
Braskem to Get New Chairman
Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem SA said on Friday it will hold a general meeting on Aug. 4 to appoint a new chairman, after its current chairman was arrested for alleged involvement in a corruption scheme. The new chairman will be Newton de Souza. He will replace Marcelo Odebrecht, chief executive officer of construction company Odebrecht SA…
Odebrecht Wins $537 mln Contract in Panama
Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht SA, which has been charged with corruption, was part of a consortium that won a project worth half a billion dollars to rebuild a Panamanian coastal city. Odebrecht said in a statement on Friday that the successful bid shows the confidence Panamanian authorities have in the family-run company. Brazilian…
Brazil Probe Pits Investigators Against Long-protected Elite
In a nation where the elite have enjoyed relative impunity, a new generation of police and prosecutors in Brazil are bent on using the country's largest-ever corruption investigation to send the message that no one is above the law. They have displayed in a local museum works of art seized in arrests in connection with alleged bribery at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
Brazil CEO Arrested in Petrobras Graft Probe
Brazilian police on Friday arrested Marcelo Odebrecht, the head of Latin America's largest engineering and construction company Odebrecht SA, and accused his family-run conglomerate of spearheading a $2.1 billion bribery scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras. Police also apprehended Otavio Marques Azevedo, CEO of Andrade Gutierrez, Brazil's second-largest builder…
Arrested Brazil CEO drove profits, used politics
With nerves of steel and a relentless drive to grow, Marcelo Odebrecht took his family's Brazilian engineering conglomerate to places few companies dared to venture, like Libya and Cuba. In Brazil, he did something few businessmen do - publicly defend the country's left-leaning presidents and their policies. Now, the 46-year-old scion…
Brazil VP Urges Distinction Between Firms, Arrested Execs
Brazil's Vice President Michel Temer said on Friday there "must have been a reason" to arrest the chief executive officers of the country's two top engineering firms, but that it was important to distinguish between the executives and the companies, which are major employers in Brazil. Federal police arrested Marcelo Odebrecht, head of Odebrecht SA, and Otavio Marques Azevedo, CEO of Andrade Gutierrez.
