Brazil reclaims 615 mln USD in embezzlement from Petrobras
Xinhua, November 2, 2015 Adjust font size:
The Brazilian authorities have reclaimed around 615 million U.S. dollars in embezzlement from Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, as part of a large-scale anti-corruption operation, local press reported Sunday.
Investigations under the Lava Jato (Car Wash) operation showed members of a vast corruption ring artificially inflated the value of some of Petrobras' contracts with the difference in costs being split among them to profit from the contracts, according to a report from O Globo.
At least 20 companies, among which some are the country's largest construction firms, more than 60 politicians and various former Petrobras executives, are believed to have been involved in the corruption scandal, according to the investigations.
One of the accused, Petrobras' former head of services, Pedro Barusco, was sentenced to 18 years in jail for his participation in the fraudulent activities.
The investigation into Barusco led to the seizure of 97 million dollars, which have been transferred to public coffers. Endi