Brazil Car Wash graft probe widens to include U.S., Greek firms
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-idUSKCN1AY137
Brazilian authorities widened their Car Wash graft probe on Friday to include more international targets, ensnaring U.S. asphalt maker Sargeant Marine, six Greek shipping companies and a former Brazilian congressman.
“These operations leave a clear message: foreign firms will not be spared by Car Wash,” Prosecutor Athayde Ribeiro Costa said in a statement.
Former lawmaker Candido Vaccarezza, who had been a Workers Party government leader in the lower house, was arrested over allegations he received bribes of nearly $500,000 from Sargeant Marine in exchange for helping it win asphalt supply contracts from state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the statement said.
Prosecutors have identified hundreds of foreign companies that did business with people under investigation in the massive probe into kickbacks from executives to politicians in return for contracts at state-run enterprises, especially #Petrobras.