Corruption in Brazil is “widespread”, according to a former director of the country’s oil company.
Paulo Roberto Costa told a congressional hearing that corruption was an accepted way of doing business which took place “all over Brazil”.
Mr Costa was arrested in March and is being investigated for his alleged role in a kickback scheme at the state-run oil company, Petrobras.
The scandal could be one of the biggest in Brazil’s history.
As part of a plea bargain, he helped lift the lid on a scheme that allegedly used inflated Petrobras contracts to funnel money to parties of the governing coalition.
He claims to have given investigators the names of dozens of politicians who have received payments.
But he told the committee: "What has been reported occurring at Petrobras happens all over Brazil in contracts for roads, railways, ports, airports, hydroelectric dams”.
Police last month arrested at least 20 executives from some of the country’s biggest construction and engineering companies in connection with the investigation.
President Dilma Rousseff said the case was "symbolic" and that it could change the country forever.
Comments
What north Europeans from 'cleaner' countries to Portugal fail to appreciate is that corruption is not just at the national level of administration.
Check your municipal council minutes of hearings into building permissions - or ask a municipal planner - and it is quite certain you will find that some local has been let off punishment for illegally building or extending their property because 'everyone is doing it'.
But good readers will have spotted the words 'some local'. Many British for example will have been caught and fined heavily for trifles - along with crazy lawyer fees (bizarrely called something sounding respectable - honoraries) - with thousands more British going the other way and unnecessarily hooked themselves into a corrupt local planning process.
A process that, as nationally there is no control of 'Valor das Obras' - is focussed only on repeatedly taking as much money as possible off the poor British applicant.
And when the British pockets are empty - packing them off home !
Thanks EU !!!