Brazil's office of the comptroller general said on Wednesday it had opened a case against 10 additional firms that may be involved in a massive corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
Brazil's Supreme Court will investigate the speakers of both houses of Congress and 32 other sitting politicians in connection with a multibillion-dollar kickback scheme at state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
Brazil's top prosecutor is expected to file charges in coming days against politicians implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal, a political bombshell that could involve members of Congress and President Dilma Rousseff's government.
A Brazilian prosecutor sought to block a possible government leniency deal with construction and engineering companies implicated in a giant bribery and money laundering scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras, according to a document published Saturday on a Brazilian news site.
Some of the companies caught up in a massive corruption scandal at state-run oil firm Petrobras are quietly pressing Brazil's government and judiciary to strike a "grand bargain" to minimize the legal fallout, five sources with knowledge of the talks say.
Brazil's tax watchdog opened a probe on whether about a dozen people involved in the Petrobras corruption scandal also allegedly had undeclared accounts with HSBC Holdings Plc's private bank in Switzerland, two sources with knowledge of the situation said on Saturday.
The new chief executive officer of Brazil's Petrobras said on Tuesday that he has full autonomy to dictate its own fuel-pricing policy and protect cash, even as he questioned the size of losses stemming from a giant corruption scandal.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's popularity has plunged by nearly half since her recent re-election as a severe government corruption scandal, an economic slowdown and surging prices for electricity, gasoline and bus fares left voters feeling misled.
Brazilian federal police said on Thursday they had started questioning João Vaccari Neto, the treasurer of the country's ruling Workers' Party, as a corruption probe focused on state-run oil company Petrobras widened to include political figures.
A Brazilian police officer investigating a kick-back scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras said the total amount of money involved could exceed $28 billion, making it the country's biggest-ever money laundering probe.
When federal investigators first identified signs of corruption at Petrobras in 2009, Dilma Rousseff insisted Brazil's state-run oil company had nothing to hide.
Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras said on Tuesday it may increase the number of foreign companies it works with after banning several Brazilian contractors because police have implicated them in a kickback scheme at the company.
Brazil's prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot on Tuesday called for the replacement of state-controlled oil company Petrobras' top management and punishment of everyone involved in a scheme to funnel kickbacks from contracts to politicians.
The Brazilian government will not interfere with a police investigation into suspected graft at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the country's justice minister said on Saturday.
Despite opposition from nearly half of Brazil's voters, leftist President Dilma Rousseff won re-election on Sunday and will have another four years to try to revive growth in a once-booming economy gone stagnant.
Brazil's October presidential race has been shaken up by a corruption scandal allegedly involving state-run oil firm Petrobras and dozens of lawmakers, with both leading candidates forced onto the defensive after colleagues were implicated.
