MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian leading contractor admits paying 36m dollars in bribes to Petrobras officials

Camargo Correa is one of the largest privately owner organizations in Brazil with businesses in several fields, and operations in 21 countries

A vice president of construction company Camargo Correa told Brazilian prosecutors that he paid 36 million dollars in bribes to officials of state-controlled oil company Petrobras, the press reported, citing a document prepared by prosecutors.

 Eduardo Hermelino Leite, who was arrested in November for his alleged role in the corruption case and was later released, cut a deal with prosecutors to reduce any possible prison time.

Leite paid the bribes between 2007 and 2012 to two Petrobras officials, one who was in charge of services and the other of the oil company's supply unit, Globo television reported.

Camargo Correa hired third parties as subcontractors to provide services to Petrobras, with the cost of the work being inflated to hide the illegal payments, Leite told prosecutors.

Police have arrested five former Petrobras executives as well as owners and executives of construction companies that had contracts with Brazil's largest company, which accounts for about 12% of the country's GDP.

Around 50 politicians suspected of benefiting from the corruption scheme, most of them from President Dilma Rousseff's party and allies, also are under investigation, including the heads of both houses of Congress.

Joao Vaccari, the former treasurer of the ruling Workers' Party, or PT, was arrested last week.

The Brazilian construction and engineering companies suspected in the scheme, which investigators say dates back more than 10 years, allegedly inflated their invoices and split the extra money with corrupt Petrobras officials, while also setting aside some of the loot to pay off politicians who provided cover for the graft.

Rousseff, a former Petrobras chairwoman whose approval rating has plunged to around 13% amid the scandal, has sought to distance herself from the corruption case. Investigators are still trying to determine how much money was siphoned out of Petrobras, with estimates putting the figure in the billions of dollars.

According to the company's site, Camargo Corrêa Group is today one of the largest privately-held organizations in Brazil. Managed by the holding company Camargo Corrêa SA, a privately-held and family-controlled company, the Group is formed by about 58,000 employees and operates in 20 Brazilian states and 21 countries.

Financial statements from 2012, indicate revenue was 9.2bn dollars from businesses in cement, steel, real estate, construction, oil & gas, power, transportation, plus manufacturing.