Rio de Janeiro, April 10 (IANS) Brazil’s Federal Police on Friday arrested three former lower house lawmakers and four other suspects in a new phase of the investigation into a massive bribery case centered on state-controlled oil giant Petrobras, officials said.
Andre Vargas, a member of the ruling Workers Party (PT), Pedro Correa of the Progressive Party, (PP) and Luiz Argolo of the opposition Solidarity party were taken into custody, Efe news agency reported.
Correa was among those convicted in the so-called “trial of the century”, another landmark Brazilian corruption case that was uncovered in 2005 and hit the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, mentor and predecessor of current head of state Dilma Rousseff.
Police also arrested Argolo’s secretary, Elisa Santos, Vargas’ brother, Leon Vargas, and two other individuals identified as Ivan Mernon da Silva Torres and Ricardo Hoffmann.
These seven latest detainees are under investigation for criminal conspiracy, corruption, bid rigging, money laundering, influence trafficking, and use of false documents.
These arrests mark a new chapter in the massive corruption scandal that was brought to light last year and thus far has centred on Petrobras, although investigators say the case could extend to public bidding processes involving other state-run entities.
Petrobras, which accounts for 12 percent of Brazilian GDP, is under investigation following disclosure of widespread corruption said to have cost the company billions of dollars since the mid-1990s.
Police have already detained five former high-ranking Petrobras executives as well as around a dozen executives of major construction and engineering firms that had contracts with the oil giant.
Outside companies involved in the scheme would inflate their invoices, splitting the extra money with corrupt Petrobras officials while setting aside some of the loot to pay off politicians who provided cover for the graft, investigators say.
Some of the detainees have entered into plea deals to obtain a reduction in future prison sentences and have implicated around 50 politicians who allegedly facilitated the illegal activity.
Last month, Brazil’s Supreme Court gave prosecutors the green light to investigate dozens of politicians over the graft case, including the heads of Brazil’s Senate and lower house, Renan Calheiros and Eduardo Cunha respectively.
The PT’s treasurer, Joao Vaccari, also has been arrested and charged with corruption, criminal conspiracy and money laundering, although on Thursday, in statements to a lower house investigation committee, he vehemently denied soliciting funds stemming from the bribery scheme, either for himself or Rousseff’s party.