By Anna J. Kaiser
RIO DE JANEIRO
Eleven prisoners were released late Tuesday night in the ongoing investigation of a corruption scandal in Brazil's state-owned oil giant, Petrobras.
A press officer from the federal court said in a brief statement that Judge Sergio Moro determined that the release of the prisoners “will not jeopardize the investigation.” The 11 were high-level executives from construction companies who are accused of bribery in order to obtain contracts with Petrobras, Brazil’s largest company.
Six temporary prisoners will now be in "preventative prison" for an undetermined amount of time.
The 11 suspects will be under probation - banned from leaving the country and required to any passports to authorities.
The six prisoners who will now be in “preventative prison” for an undetermined amount of time, includes ex-engineering director, Renato Duques.
The prisoner shuffling is the latest in the investigation of a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal that skimmed off 3 percent on contracts with construction companies and laundered the money into the pockets of high-level officials and politicians.
A total of 24 suspects have been arrested in the investigation known as “Operation Car Wash.”
The scandal may be one of the biggest in Brazil’s 26-year-old democracy. The Federal Public Prosecutor (MPF) presented evidence to the court that the graft scheme has been in action at least since 1999.
The 98-page document summarizing the Federal Police’s investigation concludes that, “Although it is definitely not possible to assess the total value of the damage, it is possible to affirm that the criminal scheme has been in act at Petrobras for at least 15 years.”
Brazilians are eager to see what will happen to some of the country's wealthiest actors in the petroleum and construction industries. Brazil is infamous for corruption scandals and white-collar criminals who tend to avoid doing hard time - but the crackdown by the Federal Police and the court suggests that this case may bring executives and political higher-ups to justice.
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