Graft schemes widespread in Brazil: former Petrobras exec

Brasilia

A FORMER Petrobras executive at the centre of an alleged multibillion-dollar graft scheme involving the state-run oil company said on Tuesday that similar bribery and kickback schemes are prevalent in many Brazilian public-infrastructure projects.

The March arrest of the executive, Paulo Roberto Costa, helped uncover a scheme that allegedly used inflated Petrobras contracts for refineries and other projects to funnel money to politicians through leading construction companies.