Deals totaling over $1.4 bi under scrutiny in new phase of Car Wash
The 70th stage of Operation Car Wash, dubbed Óbolo (“Obol”) was launched Wednesday (Dec. 18) to gather evidence on crimes linked to Petrobras chartering contracts, which add up to over $1.4 billion.
The contracts were signed with companies Maersk, Tide Maritime, and Ferchem. The police also investigate the disclosure of sensitive information that granted competitive advantages to firms, in exchange for the kickbacks to Petrobras employees.
Federal prosecutors in Curitiba, Paraná, estimate kickbacks to initially amount to at least $3.4 million initially for 11 Maersk contracts—which add up to $145 million, according to data in a spreadsheet seized from one of the individuals believed to have pocketed the bribes, former Petrobras Supply Director Paulo Roberto Costa, in the early stages of Operation Car Wash.
Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Athayde Ribeiro Costa told journalists at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba that the crackdown launched today demonstrates that oil production was affected by corruption schemes that range from chartering and fueling to the cargo itself. Costa added that the probes should do deeper to also include chartering contracts still in effect.
From 2002 to 2012, Maersk and its subsidiaries inked 69 chartering deals with Petrobras—which added up to nearly $240 million, prosecutors reported. Tide Maritime appears in 87 contracts from 2005 to 2018, reaching $690.5 million. Ferchem, yet another shipbroker, mediated at least 114 chartering deals for Petrobras, amount to upwards of $665.8 million, between 2005 and 2015.
The operation was named after the currency used to pay boatman Charon, whose task in Greek mythology was to take souls down the river to the underworld.
