Brazil arrests top senator bank CEO in Petrobras probe
Date
11/26/2015 3:35:46 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) One of Brazil’s top senators on Wednesday was arrested in an ongoing corruption investigation centered on state-run oil firm Petrobras that has sparked political and economic turmoil.
Sen. Delcidio Amaral of President Dilma Rousseff's Workers' Party (PT) and the government's leader in the Senate was arrested in Brasília according to federal police after prosecutors provided evidence he had interfered in the investigation.
Amaral's chief of staff was also arrested.
It’s reportedly the first time a sitting senator has been arrested in Brazil. Police had to gain Supreme Court's authorization to make the arrest.
Local media later cited Supreme Court minister Teori Zavascki as saying the country’s Attorney General was presented presented with evidence that Amaral offered to pay a monthly bribe of 50000 reais ($13300) to former Petrobras director Nestor Cerveró in order for him not to sign a plea bargain with prosecutors or not to divulge Amaral's name as part of details he would give in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Cerveró has already been convicted as part of the investigation and sentenced to a more than 12-year term.
The CEO of BTG Pactual investment bank André Esteves was also arrested at his home in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday accused of "being involved in the irregularities" according to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.
BTG the largest independent investment bank in Latin America and one of the largest merchant banks in Brazil said in a statement that it was "available to provide the authorities with any explanations that were necessary" and that it would cooperate with investigations.
Police had also intended to arrest an attorney who had worked for Cerveró but found he is currently in the United States. An application has been made to put him on Interpol's red alert list.
The investigation into Brazil's biggest-ever corruption scandal has already led to the arrest of several top Brazilian business and political figures with dozens of convictions and prison sentences already handed down for corruption criminal association and money laundering.
By Ben Tavener
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