A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest against Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo on March 15, 2015. The placard reads: “Petrobras scandal, Brazilian shame.”NACHO DOCE/Reuters
Brazilian prosecutors on Monday charged the treasurer of the ruling Workers' Party with corruption in connection to a sprawling graft scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Party treasurer Joao Vaccari Neto was hit with the charges for allegedly disguising more than $1.2-million in bribes as campaign contributions between 2008 and 2010.
In an e-mailed statement, Vaccari's attorney Luiz Flavio Borges D'Urso said he didn't know the details of prosecutor's accusations but that his client denied receiving any bribes or bringing any "illegal" money into the Workers' Party at any time.
Prosecutors allege that Vaccari negotiated bribes with former Petrobras executive Renato Duque, who was also charged on Monday along with another 25 people. In total, more than 100 people so far are facing charges related to the Petrobras case – and prosecutors have said they still have a lot of investigative work to do.
The Petrobras graft scheme is labeled by federal prosecutors as the largest corruption scheme yet uncovered in Brazil.
They allege that at least $800-million in bribes and other illegal funds were paid by the nation's biggest construction and engineering firms to politically appointed Petrobras executives, who not only enriched themselves but funneled the money into the campaign coffers of the Workers' Party and its allies. In return, the companies won lucrative and inflated contracts with the oil firm, Brazil's biggest company.