Money dealer key in Petrobras kickback scheme hospitalized
A medical report made public today (Oct 26) states that black-market currency dealer Alberto Youssef, hospitalized since Saturday afternoon (25), is conscious, lucid and clear-headed, “with vital signs within normal standards.”
According to the hospital's Clinical Director Arthur Leal Neto, the dealer was admitted to the coronary care unit on Saturday following a syncopal episode (short-termed loss of consciousness), but was showing a steady clinical status, with “signs of dehydration and weight loss.”
Leal Neto also stated that the first evaluation did not reveal any sign of poisoning, and that his cardiac status was also stable. “Up to the moment, laboratory exams and complementary testing have yielded results within normal standards,” he noted.
In a note, the Federal Police declared that the money dealer spent the night well, and is to remain hospitalized for 48 hours, escorted by police officers.
Suspicions of poisoning were rejected as early as yesterday (25) by the police, who further announced that Youssef was taken to the hospital after “a sharp drop in blood pressure caused by medication used in the treatment of a serious heart condition.”
This has been the third time Youssef needed medical assistance since he was arrested in March as part of Operation Car Wash, launched by the Federal Police. The action dismantled a criminal organization which, “apart from involving some of the main figures in Brazil's exchange black market,” is held accountable for dealing with and laundering financial funds from a number of natural and legal persons involved in crimes such as international drug trafficking, corruption of public agencies, tax evasion, money embezzlement, extracting and smuggling precious stones, and illegal offshore banking.
During the probe, investigators confirmed Youssef's cooperation with government-run oil giant Petrobras's former Supply Director Paulo Roberto Costa in overpricing contracts and embezzling resources from the national oil firm, especially in the purchase of the refinery Pasadena, in the US, and the construction of another refinery, named Abreu e Lima, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Both agreed to a plea deal, and told the courts how the scheme operated, with transactions adding up to nearly $4 billion.
According to the Federal Prosecution Office, the embezzlement in the construction of Abreu e Lima was made possible by means of overpriced contracts signed by companies which provided services for Petrobras between 2008 and 2014. The budget for the construction works was set at approximately $1 billion, but cost more than $8 billion.
In 2006, Petrobras bought 50 percent of Pasadena, at a cost of $360 million. Because of certain clauses in the contract, the oil giant was forced to buy the whole of the refinery, which resulted in expenditures amounting to $1.18 billion. The purchase was unanimously approved by Petrobras's Administrative Board, headed then by current President Dilma Rousseff.
In July, Brazil Federal Court of Accounts approved a report used as part of the proceedings investigating the purchase of Pasadena, and ruled that the company's executive directors must return $792.3 million to Petrobras in compensation for the losses incurred by Petrobras.
The police-launched operation was named Car Wash because the group would use launderettes an gas stations as the scene for carrying out the transactions.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Money dealer key in Petrobras kickback scheme hospitalized
