Brazil's Speaker and Petrobras Former Director Used Same Broker to Open Bank Accounts in Switzerland

10/16/2015 - 09h53

According to information provided by Switzerland, the main bank account belonging to the speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), was opened with the help of the same person who assisted former director of Petrobras, Nestor Cerveró, to send his money abroad.

The information sent to the Attorney General of the Republic shows the account was opened in September 2008 by a shell company named Netherton Investments based in Singapore.

Documents obtained by Folha in Singapore show that this company was established earlier in the same year by PVCI New Zealand Trust, registered in New Zealand.

The man who signs as PVCI's Director is Luis Maria Pineyrua Pittaluga. He works for a law firm in Uruguay and also helped Cerveró to open an account in Switzerland.

According to these documents, Cerveró's account was opened by Pittaluga on behalf of Forbal Investments, a company based in Belize, the Caribbean tax haven, in July 2008.

The bank account assigned to Eduardo Cunha had a balance of US$ 2.4 million (R$ 9.1 million) in April this year, when he became the target of suspicion in Switzerland and the money has been blocked by the authorities.

Also according to the information received from the European country, Cunha and his wife, Cláudia Cruz, kept three other accounts there. Two were closed last year, shortly after the first arrests triggered by the Car Wash Operation.

Federal Prosecutors accuse Cunha and Cerveró of being involved in the corruption scheme at Petrobras. According to prosecutors, both received kickbacks from companies that built drilling vessels for Petrobras between 2006 and 2007.
 
p(tagline). Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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	Alan Marques/Folhapress
	Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress