Maersk has confirmed that its offices in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have been searched by the Brazilian Federal Police in connection with allegations regarding the payment of bribes to national oil company Petrobras over a 10-year period through to 2012.
Maersk is accused of paying $3.4m on bribes to get shipping contracts from the Brazilian energy giant, which has been mired in a huge multi-billion dollar bribery scandal for many years now.
“The searches are intended to investigate the provision of insider information that gave companies competitive advantages in return for the payment of bribes to Petrobras employees,” prosecutors said.
Brazilian authorities said they were also investigating Petrobras’ contracts with local shipbrokers Ferchem and Tide Maritime.
