Former Petrobras director says he is “disgusted” at scandal
Paulo Roberto Costa was heard in a confrontation statement in a Congressional Committee of Inquiry (MI) set up with both Congress houses to probe into the kickback scheme in the oil company.
Former Petrobras Downstream Director Paulo Roberto Costa said he confirms all the allegations he has made regarding a kickback scheme at Petrobras. “There's nothing in my plea bargain statements that I can't uphold. I've given the facts, I've given details, I've given names. These people will be known at the appropriate time,” he said.
He was heard in a confrontation statement in a Congressional Committee of Inquiry (MI) set up with both Congress houses to probe into the kickback scheme in the oil company. Costa said he was “disgusted” at the kickback scheme in which he was involved. Still, he denied having reported the scheme to the then-ruling President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or to the Minister of Mines and Energy and then-head of Petrobras Board of Directors and current Brazil president, Dilma Rousseff.
At the beginning of the hearing session, Costa said he regretted what he has done and even accepting his executive position at Petrobras through political appointment, as this has led up to prosecution now. “But you can only become a Petrobras director by political appointment. This has been a fact in all [presidential] istrations, from Sarney [1985-1990] to Collor [1990-1992] to Itamar Franco [1992-1994] to Fernando Henrique [Cardoso, 1995-2002] to Lula [2003-2010] to Dilma [Rousseff, 2011-present], the story is the same. And the fact remains I have accepted this position which I now regret bitterly, because this is where it got me now,” he said. Costa went on to say that corruption schemes like that are widespread in all government contracts from rail to port to airport projects.
The MI hearing included a confrontation with the former International Director for Petrobras, Nestor Cerveró. Both him and Costa blamed the purchase of a refinery in Pasadena, US, on the Board of Directors.
“Decisions on buying assets for Petrobras, whether in Brazil or abroad, are a responsibility of the Board of Directors. This is a governance matter,” Cerveró said. Costa added that “under Petrobras by-laws, the responsibility for approving the purchase of an asset such as Pasadena lies entirely with the board.”
As a defendant in the scandal, Costa entered a plea bargain agreement with Brazil's legal authorities, under which he gave details on corrupt payments and kickbacks paid by prospective contractors to work for Petrobras. In another, non-confidential hearing – unlike plea bargain statements – he itted to being responsible for collecting kickback money paid to PT, the ruling party, and its allies, PP, and PMDB.
Petrobras is at the center of a large corruption scandal that includes kickbacks, money laundering, and foreign currency drain. Last March, the Federal Police launched an operation dubbed “Car Wash” which resulted in several arrests and document seizures.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Former Petrobras director says he is “disgusted” at scandal
