The investigation into the Petrobras oil scandal has resulted in the arrests of two major Brazilian businessmen: Marcelo Odebrecht, the head of Latin America's largest construction conglomerate the Odebrecht group, and Otavio Azevedo, the head of the Andrade Gutierrez construction company.

Police detained Odebrecht and Otavio Azevedo on Friday as part of a federal operation which has so far involved 220 police officers in four states.

The 46-year-old Odebrecht, who is a major financial and political figure in Brazil, comes from a family that boasts an empire with influence in over 20 countries.

Odebrecht’s company, Odebrecht SA, was responsible for constructing Brazilian World Cup stadiums, Cuba’s deep water port, as well as Miami’s airport. Aside from the business of building, Odebrecht SA is considered a huge and influential donor to Brazilian political campaigns at every level.

“When you are the industry leader, and we are the leader of practically all industries, naturally you have to deal with the politicians of that sector,” Odebrecht is quoted as saying in Bloomberg.

Before the Petrobras scandal, Odebrecht had already been accused by his critics of receiving unfair benefits from his tight relationship with the Brazilian government.

Dozens of politicians and business figures have been arrested during the Petrobras investigation which alleges that corrupt officials were given bribes for contracts. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was chair of Petrobras when much of the corruption occurred, but has been cleared of any involvement.

The scandal has rocked the country but according Joao Augusto de Castro Neves of the world's largest political risk consultancy, the Eurasia Group, in the future "you'll see a better corporate governance structure for Petrobras and other companies that operate in Brazil.”

"Unfortunately there is no major solution to end corruption but I think it will lead to more transparency, more oversight and less corruption," the economic and political expert told the BBC.