The former chairman of Petrobras says that as far back as 2006 he received kickbacks which made their way to the election campaign of former national president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to the EFE agency.
Nestor Cervero is in jail for his role in the ongoing bribes-for-inflated-contracts scandal at Brazil’s state oil giant.
Cervero says the bribes came from a contract in the southern African country of Angola and amounted to as much as $12.3m.
Many members of the ruling Workers Party have been implicated as alleged or proven beneficiaries of corruption from overpriced contracts signed by Petrobras.
But Cervero’s claim suggests the practices date back to before the start of the current investigation timeline of 2007.
The news came on the same day that it was announced that Brazil’s securities regulator CVM is investigating 10 complaints into Petrobras, its auditors (including Pricewaterhouse Coopers and KPMG) and former company executives.
The complaints allege that the accused parties misled investors. Judgements, carrying administrative but not criminal penalties, could be forthcoming later this year, a faster process than the judicial one.