The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are intensifying their probe of dozens of companies stateside who have been implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal, according to Bloomberg.
Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, is at the hub of an ever-worsening graft scheme that has crippled Brazil’s economy and politics for nearly two years.
US authorities have been liaising with Brazilian counterparts to assist the Brazil-based probes but this ramping up, with more investigators assigned, signals an intention to try to prosecute Petrobras – and companies with which it had illegitimate dealings – in US courts.
US law is more favourable than Brazilian law to prosecuting corporate entities and the fact that many of these firms have stocks and bonds traded in US markets gives the Americans a claim of jurisdiction.
Petrobras posted losses of $360m in the first quarter with sales down 5% year-on-year.
On Friday Petrobras announced it expects to drill 65 new wells this year and maintained its predicted annual average output at 2.145m barrels of oil per day.
