- Brazilian prosecutors pressed charges against two people, including a former Maersk executive.
- They have been accused for their alleged involvement in a scheme to obtain confidential market information from Petrobras to benefit Maersk.
- The case is part of Operation Car Wash, an investigation started in 2014 into corruption activities involving Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras.
- A judge has yet to decide to drop the prosecution charges or accept them and start a criminal investigation.
- The alleged crimes relate to the period 2006 to 2014.
- Petrobras said it continues to work with authorities, adding the company itself is a victim of corruption.
According to a news report published in Reuters, former Maersk executive has been accused in Petrobras corruption case.
Sprawling Car Wash scandal
Brazilian prosecutors pressed charges against two people. It is said the two people worked in tandem to get confidential market information from Petrobras.
They have been charged for their alleged involvement in wrongful act benefit Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company.
The investigation pertaining to this case started in 2011 as part of the sprawling Car Wash scandal. This has uncovered corruption throughout multiple countries in more than 70 police operations.
Modus operandi
A statement released by prosecutors on Friday said that
- Former Maersk executive in Brazil Viggo Andersen inflated contract prices with Petrobras.
- Andersen would then allegedly transfer a percentage to Maersk commercial representative Wanderley Gandra.
- He is the financial operator for the alleged corruption scheme.
- Gandra would then send some of that money to Paulo Roberto Costa, a former Petrobras top executive.
- Costa, would supply confidential information on the state oil company’s shipping needs back to Maersk.
“This new allegation presented in court shows the continued deepening of the investigations,” prosecutor Marcelo Ribeiro said in the statement.
Maersk in early stage of investigations
Maersk met with Brazilian investigators as far back as 2014 in relation to its dealings with Petrobras during the early stages of the corruption investigation.
Last year, Maersk’ offices in Brazil were raided by prosecutors. The company said then it would co-operate fully with authorities.
Key accused arrested in 2014
Costa was arrested in 2014 and was the first of more than 100 people who entered a plea deal with prosecutors.
The former Petrobras executive supplied investigators with information on multiple Petrobras contracts he oversaw and recognized as illicit, including on Maersk and other international offshore suppliers.
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