A federal judge in Brazil has ordered an investigation of the former head of scandal-plagued state oil firm Petrobras, according to Reuters.
It is part of the sprawling probe into bribes-for-inflated-contracts scheme that has brought disgrace and huge financial cost to Petrobras.
The man being targeted is Aldemir Bendine who became head of the company in early 2015, by which time the anti-corruption Car Wash probe was already under way.
Judge Sergio Moro has ordered the investigation of Bendine to explore allegations that he received more than $900,000 in improper payments from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.
Charges against Bendine are believed to have come out of plea-bargain testimony by Odebrecht’s already-imprisoned CEO Marcelo Odebrecht.
By Petrobras’ official accounting, bribery cost the firm at least $2bn.
Numerous politicians and officials of Petrobras and contractor firms have been implicated in the scheme.
