Federal Police Have Confirmed US$ 15 million Bribe in Connection with Pasadena Refinery

03/23/2018 - 11h13

Two recently-released Lava Jato reports conducted by Federal Police investigators have confirmed a US$ 15 billion bribe paid to government officials who were involved in Petrobras' acquisition of the Pasadena refinery in the United States.

The transaction - which took place back in 2005, during Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first term - was made in two installments of US$ 1.179 billion.

The investigators have stressed the importance of lifting both bank and tax return secrecies of those who participated in the decision-making process that led to the acquisition of the refinery.

	Divulgação/Clui.org
	Pasadena refinery in the United States

Among them is former president Dilma Rousseff, who was then the Minister of Mines and Energy as well as the president of Petrobras' Board of Directors, along with advisers Antonio Palocci and Sérgio Gabrielli, the former Petrobras CEO.

Investigators want to "continue the analysis and verify the extent of liability and/or benefits that may have been improperly obtained or promised". None of the counselors were incriminated by the evidence that has been collected up until now.

According to a 270-page report that was attached to a Lava Jato inquiry last week, the amount paid was US$ 741 million above market value, or "about 783% above the estimated value" of the refinery's assets at the time of the acquisition.

According to the Federal Police, of the amount paid, only US$ 324 million "would have been grounded in economic merit, given that was the amount that could be traced back to the evaluative documents".

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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