Former Petrobras international director convicted

Former Petrobras International Director Jorge Luiz Zelada and former employee João Augusto Rezende Henriques were convicted on Tuesday (Jan. 12) by the Court of Rio de Janeiro and sentenced to four years in jail – the maximum jail term for bid rigging. They were also sentenced to pay fines of $16.5 million. The defendants will be given notice of the sentence in Curitiba, Paraná, where they are currently jailed.

The conviction is part of a case filed by the Public Prosecutor indicting Zelada on charges of fixing Petrobras International's Health, Safety, and Environment Certification bidding. According to the case documents, Odebrecht construction company was fixed up with a $825.66 million contract in September 2010 aided by a Petrobras legal counsel, technical employee, and engineers.

The following involved Petrobras employees were also convicted: Aluísio Teles Ferreira Filho, Alexandre Penna Rodrigues, and Socrates José Fernandes Marques da Silva (engineers); Venâncio Pessoa Igrejas Lopes Filho (corporate counsel), Ulisses Sobral Calile (technical staff); and Rodrigo Zambrotti Pinaud.

Translated by Mayra Borges