BRASILIA: Brazil’s tax agency said that it and federal police have detected corrupt activities at the agency that could have cost state coffers at least 5 billion reais ($1.57 billion).
The tax agency allegations come on the heels of a probe that has uncovered a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at state oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, which has rattled Brazil’s political establishment and weighed on the country’s fragile economy.
The agency said in a statement that the investigation, which began in 2013, well before current Finance Minister Joaquim Levy took office, indicates “strong evidence” of influence peddling, corruption, criminal conspiracy and money-laundering.
