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Brazilian police arrest senior lawmaker over Petrobras-related corruption charges

Xinhua, November 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Brazil's federal police arrested on Wednesday the leader of the ruling Workers' Party in the Senate for interfering in the corruption probe into state-owned oil giant Petrobras.

Delcidio do Amaral was accused of interfering in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) operation, which investigates corruption in governmental contracts, especially those related to Petrobras, the police said.

The senator has offered a 50,000-reais (13,360 U.S. dollars) monthly bribe to former Petrobras director Nelson Cervero in exchange for keeping his involvement in the corruption scheme a secret, the police said.

Cervero was arrested by the federal police earlier and agreed to testify for the state in exchange for leniency.

Amaral also promised Cervero he would tilt federal trials in his favor, and offered to help him flee the country.

The involvement of Amaral in Petrobras corruption scandal had already been exposed by Fernando Baiano, a lobbyist who was also arrested over the case and agreed to testify for the state.

According to Baiano, Amaral received a bribe worth 1.5 million U.S. dollars related to Petrobras' purchase of the Pasadena oil refinery in Texas. The purchase was widely regarded as a very bad deal for Petrobras and was investigated for overpricing. Endi