Investigations resulting from stage 14 of Operation Car Wash, launched earlier today (June 19) by the Federal Police, revealed that contractors Norberto Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez led the contractors' cartel that worked on overpriced contracts with Petrobras.

According to the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office, unlike the other investigated companies, the two contractors used a “more sophisticated” scheme to pay bribes to public and political officials through offshore accounts, which required more in-depth investigations before warrants could be issued against the companies' officers.

According to Federal Prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima, three associates, including former Petrobras directors Paulo Roberto Costa and Pedro Barusco – arrested at earlier stages of the operation – said they had received bribes from Odebrecht abroad through offshore companies. These payments, according to Lima, were identified by the Federal Police and Public Prosecution through collaboration with foreign authorities.

“With the other implicated contractors, we found that their transactions were made directly with [currency dealer] Alberto Youssef and his companies in a relatively simple, easily verifiable scheme. But the money laundering scheme facing us now involved offshore deposits,” Lima said.

In addition to the bid rigging scheme at Petrobras, the investigations that led to the crackdown today (19) found that Odebrecht may also have defrauded contracts for the construction of the Angra III nuclear plant in Rio de Janeiro.