Petrobras Scandal: Workers' Party Received US$200 Million in Bribes, According to Informer

02/06/2015 - 09h08

The former manager of Petrobras, Pedro Barusco, said in a testimony given after he struck a whistleblower's deal during the Car Wash Operation, that the Workers' Party received bribes between US$150 million to US$200 million between 2003 and 2013, which were paid for by companies that were in charge of the 90 biggest deals at Petrobras.

According to him, the political party's treasurer, João Vaccari Neto, had a "part" in receiving bribes.

On Thursday (5th February) he was taken to the Federal Police headquarters in São Paulo to testify about "legal and illegal donations" to the Workers' Party, according to Commissioner Igor de Paula.

The operation was part of the ninth stage of the Car Wash Operation, called My Way.

The name of this operation is a reference to a song sung by Frank Sinatra, which gave the nickname to Renato Duque, the former director of Services at Petrobras, who was linked to the Workers' Party.

The treasurer and the party's board of directors deny having received any illegal donations. From 2003 to 2010, Barusco managed Duque's board of directors.

According to the former manager, Duque received US$40 million in foreign accounts and between US$3.6 million to US$4.3 million in Brazil, which the defense denies.

Duque was arrested in November and released by the Supreme Federal Court.

Barusco struck a whistleblower deal in November, when he agreed to giving back US$97 million he had received as bribe payments.

In his testimonies he told that, in the Services board of directors, bribes were paid until February 2014. The passage from his testimony that was made public on Thursday 5th February was given on 20th November.

In this testimony, Barusco goes over the alleged participation of Vaccari in an agreement struck between Petrobras staff and national and international shipyards that refer to 21 contracts for building ships equipped with sensors, that cost US$22 billion.

Translated by CRISTIANE COSTA LIMA

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	Roosewelt Pinheiro - 30.mar.2010/AFP
	Workers Party Treasurer Joao Vaccari Neto was arrested on February 5 in a widening scandal surrounding the Petrobras oil giant