Petrobras Scandal Update 2015: Brazilian Oil Company Releases Audited Financial Earnings
Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company which has recently been rocked with kickback scandals linked to many of the government's officials, has announced that it will reveal its estimation of how much money the company lost during the scandals.
The company will release an audited report detailing its financial earnings from 2014's third and fourth quarters.
As reported by The Associated Press article, a statement released by Petrobras late on Thursday informed that the results would be released on Wednesday. The release of the audited results has hitherto been delayed by the investigation into the kickback-corruption scheme.
Prosecutors assert that large construction and engineering firms paid at least $800 million in bribes and additional funds in order to get inflated contracts with Petrobras. It is alleged that part of that money was funneled into the governing Workers' Party, as well as other parties, for political campaigns.
Joao Vaccari Neto, the former Treasurer for the Workers' Party, was arrested this week and charged with corruption as well as money laundering in connection with the kickback scheme.
Vaccari Neto’s sister-in-law Marice Correa de Lima turned herself in to the Brazilian police on Friday. The woman faced an arrest warrant as part of an investigation into irregularities connected to the purchase and sale of an apartment. Prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos explained to reporters that her actions involved money laundering.
Vaccari Neto's arrest moves the Petrobras investigation closer to President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff, who served as chair of Petrobras between 2003 and 2010, has denied any knowledge of the kickback scheme.
The embezzlement is believed to have been going on for as long as 15 years.
As reported in the Telegraph, Rousseff, the first female President of the Latin American country, stated that fighting corruption had been a "constant goal" of her administration.
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