Brazil's top court OKs investigation into dozens of top politicians in Petrobras graft scandal

Brazil's Supreme Court has given the green light for the attorney general to begin investigating dozens of top politicians for alleged connections to a big kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Among those the court says will be investigated are former president and current senator Fernando Collor, who was forced from the presidency by a corruption scandal in 1992.

Also on the list are the current leaders of Brazil's senate and lower house. In total, 54 people are to be investigated.

Federal prosecutors say they've uncovered the largest corruption scheme ever in Brazil. They say that for over a decade, Brazil's biggest construction and engineering firms paid at least $800 million to former Petrobras executives and others in exchange for inflated contracts.

The list came out a few minutes ago, so... happening right now. It's a mess, but at least something is finally getting done to solve this. Not that corruption will ever be over, of course... it's just good to see some people paying for it.

US News

a reply to: LukeDAP

Ever since South America kicked out western central bankers and created their own banks they have greater and greater democracy

Brazil is not a rich country but will become rich over time as long as they keep the North America out

You'll never see such mass corruption investigation in US for example, government and FED banks are to powerful

Brazil Petrobras scandal: Top politicians accused

Brazil's Supreme Court has approved the investigation of dozens of politicians for their alleged involvement in a kickback scheme at the state-run oil firm Petrobras.

Investigators allege private firms paid corrupt officials in order to get lucrative Petrobras contracts.

Among the 54 people accused of taking bribes are a former president and the speakers of both chambers of Congress.

Most politicians under investigation belong to the governing coalition.

But President Dilma Rousseff has been completely cleared of any involvement in the scheme.

She chaired the board of Pretrobras for seven years when much of the corruption is believed to have taken place.

Brazil's Attorney General Rodrigo Janot has accused many senior politicians of taking bribes.

The list includes Senate President Renan Calheiros, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, former Energy Minister Edison Lobao and former President Collor de Mello.

The BBC's Daniel Gallas in Sao Paulo says that these investigations are likely to put even more pressure on Ms Rousseff's government, at a time when she needs the support of Congress to implement austerity measures.

Under Brazilian law, politicians and cabinet members can only be tried by the Supreme Court.

Last month, the treasurer of the ruling Workers Party (PT), Joao Vaccari Neto, was questioned over the alleged scheme and then released.

This followed an accusation by a former Petrobras executive that Mr Neto had diverted money from the company into the coffers of the party and its allies.

This has been strongly denied by the party.

The scandal has meant Petrobras, one of the largest oil businesses in the world, has lost much of its market value since September.

Analysts say because Petrobras has not yet been able to say exactly how much money it has lost to corruption, no-one knows for sure how much its assets are really worth.

In December, prosecutors charged executives from six of the country's largest construction firms for allegedly channelling kickbacks into a Petrobras scheme to pay politicians.

BBC

Everyone interested in this NEEDS to read "confessions of an economic hit man" by John Perkins. The book deals, very specifically, with this type of situation. Crazy to see it happening in real time not three weeks after I reread the book.