By Rogerio Jelmayer
SÃO PAULO--Brazil's Federal Police said they arrested the chief
executives of construction giants Odebrecht SA and Andrade
Gutierrez on Friday morning, in the latest phase of the continuing
investigation into what prosecutors and the police allege was a
corruption scheme involving contracts signed by state run oil
company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
The arrests mark the first time executives from Odebrecht, one
of Latin America's biggest construction firms, and Andrade
Gutierrez have been arrested. Both companies previously had been
named in the investigation, but no executives had been
arrested.
Marcelo Odebrecht and Otavio Azevedo, the chief executives of
Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, respectively, were among those
arrested Friday, according to a police spokesman. The executives
are accused of participating in the formation of cartels, money
laundering and corruption, the police spokesman said.
The lawyer for Odebrecht declined to comment for this article,
and a spokeswoman for Andrade Gutierrez declined to provide the
name of the company's lawyer. The company said in a short note that
it is collaborating with the investigation, and denied any
wrongdoing.
In a statement, Odebrecht said that its offices in São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro were searched by police, but it didn't confirm the
arrests. The company said that the police operation was
unnecessary, since the company is cooperating with the authorities'
investigation. Odebrecht officials have previously denied any
involvement in the alleged scheme.
Other top executives of both companies were also arrested. The
police will unveil more details during a press conference later
Friday, according to a police spokesman.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com
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