New Congressional Investigation Committee approved for Petrobras case

Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, read today (Feb 5) to fellow congressmen at a plenary session the document which marks the establishment of a new Congressional Committee of Investigation (CPI, in its Portuguese acronym) to probe into illicit doings at the state-run oil giant Petrobras. This represents the creation of the first CPI in the new legislative period.

The committee is to have 27 nominations, proportionally divided among blocs. A bloc comprising 12 parties and led by the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) will get the most seats—11. Next comes a five-party bloc with the ruling Workers' Party (PT), holding eight spots. The opposition bloc, with five parties, and headed by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), is to occupy six chairs. Two spaces have been reserved for parties that do not belong to any group—one for the Socialism and Freedom Party ("PSOL") and another for the Democratic Labor Party (PDT).

According to Mozart Viana, secretary-general of the Chamber's Directing Board, parties will be allowed 48 hours to appoint their representatives. In his view, since the deadline set is rather tight and no deliberative session has been slated for next week—the week right before Carnival, this year from February 14 to 17—the CPI is likely to begin its activities after the holiday.

Investigations will focus on illicit doings at the company from 2005 to 2015, and its commencement coincides with the beginning of the ninth stage of Operation Car Wash—which probes into a cartel and bribery scheme involving construction firms, politicians and Petrobras senior executives.

In 2014, a mixed CPI (referred to as CPMI)—with senators and deputies as members, therefore members from both congressional houses—also investigated irregularities at Petrobras following allegations made as a result of Operation Car Wash.

Two reports were turned in after the work of December's CPMI. The official report requested the indictment of 52 people for the crimes of criminal conspiracy, money laundering, and active and passive corruption. Among those named by PT Deputy Marcos Maia, the rapporteur in the case, were former Petrobras Directors  Paulo Roberto Costa, Renato Duque and Nestor Cerveró. The report reassessed the purchase of the Pasadena Refinery, in the US, and called for further probes into the transaction, which reportedly caused the oil company to incur in losses adding up to $561.5 million.

The report drawn up by the opposition parties further requested the indictment of Petrobras CEO Graça Foster, for having given a false testimony during the CPMI. According to the document, she was aware of the bribes paid to Petrobras's employees and former employees, and lied in her testimony, by denying she had any knowledge of them.

On the acquisition of Pasadena, representatives from the opposition argue that it cost approximately $1.2 billion, which, according to the Court of Accounts of the Union, led to losses amounting to $792 million. The opposition's report requests that Petrobras Administrative Council be held accountable for authorizing the purchase. At the time, the council was headed by then Minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira