Switzerland to Return $70 Million From Banks as Part of Petrobras Probes
March 17 2016 - 1:16PM
Dow Jones News
By John Letzing
ZURICH--Swiss authorities on Thursday said they would facilitate
the return of an additional $70 million from banks in Switzerland
to Brazil, as part of corruption probes tied to Brazilian state oil
company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
In a statement, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General said it
has so far opened dozens of Petrobras probes related to the
suspicion of money laundering and the bribery of foreign public
officials and examined more than 1,000 accounts at more than 40
Swiss banks.
The banks involved weren't identified.
The Attorney General's Office, which has been investigating the
Petrobras matter since early 2014, said roughly $800 million of
assets have so far been frozen in Switzerland as a result and that
arrangements had been made previously for about $120 million to be
returned "to the parties who have incurred related losses."
Investigations of alleged bid-rigging and bribery at Petrobras
have drawn in a number of prominent politicians and executives in
Brazil.
Earlier this year, a consultant who has worked on campaigns for
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was arrested, after prosecutors
identified $7.5 million they suspected was stolen from Petrobras
and moved to his Swiss bank accounts. He has denied those
allegations.
In addition, Marcelo Odebrecht, former chief executive of
Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA, was sentenced to 19
years in prison earlier in March after he was convicted of money
laundering and other crimes tied to the skimming of money from
Petrobras through inflated contracts.
In February, the Swiss Attorney General's Office said an
unidentified Brazilian citizen had been arrested in Switzerland,
after arriving to close a bank account and move its assets abroad.
There was suspicion, the office said, that the Brazilian was
involved in the payment of bribes to former Petrobras directors,
made from Swiss accounts owned by Odebrecht.
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber met with his Brazilian
counterpart, Rodrigo Janot, in Bern on Thursday to discuss the
Petrobras case, Mr. Lauber's office said. The Swiss said they plan
to work more closely with the Brazilian authorities in the
future.
Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2016 13:01 ET (17:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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