Over the last couple of years, Brazil has been inundated with one corruption scandal after another. The government responded with “Operation Carwash,” sort of like our “drain the swamp.”
We learned this week that Petrobras, the state oil monopoly, settled a huge one with U.S. investors:
Petróleo Brasileiro, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said on Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $2.95 billion to settle a shareholder lawsuit in the United States over a corruption scandal that has ensnared dozens of politicians and corporate executives, including two former Brazilian presidents.Prosecutors, in a long-running investigation known as Operation Carwash, have claimed that a small number of top officials at the company, known as Petrobras, conspired with a group of other companies to overcharge Petrobras for construction and service work, receiving bribes in return.The ensuing scandal and vast investigation has implicated dozens of high-level figures like former [p]resident Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff. Corruption allegations have also dogged the current president, Michel Temer, and several of his close allies.Petrobras officials believe [that] nearly $3 billion in bribes [was] paid as part of the scheme, which allegedly included gifts of Rolex watches, $3,000 bottles of wine, yachts, helicopters[,] and prostitutes.The company said on Monday that it was a victim of the bribery scheme and had already recovered 1.475 billion Brazilian rea[l]s, or about $449 million, in restitution. Petrobras said it would “continue to pursue all available legal remedies from culpable companies and individuals.”
This is good news for a couple of reasons:
1) It protects foreign investors, the necessary ingredient for future growth. Like any other growing economy, Brazil needs to attract money, and this settlement is a sign of respect toward these and future investors.
2) It shows that the anti-corruption campaign is serious. As my friend in Brazil said, it looks as if we are washing one corrupt car at a time. It’s good to see Brazil get serious about corruption.
Cheers for Brazil. I hope other Latin American countries learn from this experience.
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