RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday charged four
former members of congress with money laundering, embezzlement and
other crimes related to an alleged corruption case at state-run oil
firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
The prosecutors announced the charges against Andre Vargas, a
former lawmaker of the ruling Workers' Party; Luiz Argôlo, a former
lawmaker of political party Solidariedade; and Pedro Corrêa and
Aline Corrêa of the Progressive Party (PP). Mssrs. Vargas, Argôlo
and Corrêa were arrested in April and remain in custody. Ms.
Corrêa, the daughter of Mr. Corrêa, was not arrested.
The charges are part of Operation Car Wash, a case in which
Petrobras, along with some of Brazil's biggest construction firms
and around 50 current and former politicians are alleged to have
participated in a yearslong bribery scheme. Investigators accuse
Petrobras officials of taking a cut of cash from inflated contracts
and funneling the rest to lawmakers and political parties.
Prosecutors said Thursday that the total estimated amount
alleged to have been paid in bribes was $2 billion.
Federal prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said that more public
officials will be charged, but he declined to say when. Earlier
this year the Supreme Court authorized the investigation of the
current and former politicians alleged to have participated in the
scheme. Under Brazilian law, lawmakers are afforded special
considerations and can only be tried by the Supreme Court.
Messrs. Vargas, Argôlo and Correa have previously denied
involvement in the alleged corruption scheme. The lawyers for the
four former lawmakers couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
Mr. Vargas has been accused by prosecutors of benefiting from a
similar scheme with advertisement contracts with other public
institutions.
Members of the Workers' Party of President Dilma Rousseff have
previously said that donations to their party were legal and
approved by the electoral court. The scandal has been a political
embarrassment for Ms. Rousseff and has sharply reduced her
popularity.
Since the start of the investigation in March of 2014, four
former Petrobras executives and at least 23 construction executives
have been charged with crimes such as corruption and money
laundering. Some have admitted wrongdoing in exchange for lesser
punishment, prosecutors say, while others have denied involvement
and await trial.
Write to Will Connors at william.connors@wsj.com and Luciana
Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@dowjones.com
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