In a bid to unclog the arteries of Brazilian business and trade, authorities are talking deal with 10 firms implicated in the Petrobras bribes-for-inflated-contracts scandal, according to Reuters.
The scandal is a massive web of corruption involving high-level players in the state oil firm, top dogs in contractor firms (domestic and foreign) and politicians (mainly of the governing Workers Party). It has cast a pall over the economy and the nation’s image.
Now the office of the Comptroller General is negotiating leniency packages with 10 companies caught up in the scandal in return for mea culpas, swift payment of penalties and repayment of money lost to the public purse because of the graft.
The Comptroller General is a branch of the federal government which assists the national president in matters regarding the treasury and public assets and the government’s transparency policies.
According to the acting director of the Comptroller General’s office, Carlos Higino, new legislation is forthcoming which will make guilty companies more willing to own up and pay up because they will have more legal guarantees that they will not be prosecuted.
Among the companies believed to be in the leniency talks are OAS, Galavao, Engenharia, Engevix, Setal Oleo e Gas, UTC, Camargo Correa and Andrade Gutierrez.
