SAO PAULO: Another former executive of Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras was arrested for alleged involvement in the kickback scandal that has buffeted the country’s biggest company.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that federal police agents arrested Jorge Zelada, a former director of Petrobras’ international operations, on suspicion of corruption, tax evasion and money laundering.
He is the fourth former Petrobras director to be arrested in connection with the kickback scheme.
Zelada is suspected of hiding some 11 million euros ($12.2 million) received through bribes in Monaco, the statement said.
Investigators say Brazil’s top construction and engineering companies paid bribes to a handful of Petrobras’ politically appointed executives in return for inflated contracts.
Prosecutors have alleged that some of the money then flowed into the campaign coffers of the governing Workers’ Party and its allies, which they deny.
