Ex Petrobras director admitted to receiving $1.5 million in kickback

Former Petrobras head of downstream operations Paulo Roberto Costa told police he was paid $1.5 million by business lobbyist Fernando Soares “to keep from interfering” with the potential acquisition of a refinery in Pasadena, US, during a board meeting to approve the deal. Access to his plea bargain statement in September has recently been authorized by the Federal Court in charge of the case in Curitiba, Paraná.

Costa told investigators he was contacted by Fernando Soares with a bribe offer and accepted it. The payment was made offshore, and the money is believed to have been provided by Astra Oil, which owned the refinery. Also according to Costa, rumor had it at Petrobras that the company's former international boss, Nestor Cerveró (who is now jailed), along with politicians and Soares, split bribe money “ranging somewhere in between $20 million and $30 million, probably paid by Astra.”

Fernando Soares was described by Costa as a lobbyist, “a well-connected person with political and business contacts”. He was also alleged to have a 1,200 m² penthouse in the upper-class Barra da Tijuca neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, a house in the United States, vacation properties in such fancy beach spots as Angra dos Reis (Rio de Janeiro) and Trancoso (Bahia), in addition to a speedboat, offshore assets, and a fitness club. Costa believes Soares's property is listed under other owners because, he argues, Soares “wouldn't be able to provide acceptable proof of the source of his wealth.”

Furthermore, Costa confirmed that the International Division headed by Cerveró also had a “need for transfers to political groups.” There, he said, Soares had the role of “ensuring part of the kickback payments was channeled” to their recipients. All political parties implicated have denied benefiting from the kickback scheme at Petrobras.

In July, the Court of Audits (TCU) ordered $792.3 million to be returned to Petrobras to compensate for losses caused by the Pasadena deal. The largest amount, $580.4 million, is to be returned by executive board members who agreed to the deal, including former CEO José Sergio Gabrielli and former directors Nestor Cerveró and Paulo Roberto Costa.

Translated by Mayra Borges