By Ben Tavener
SAO PAULO
Federal police on Wednesday arrested another former head of the state-run oil giant Petrobras, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption at the scandal-hit company.
Nestor Cerveró, the former director of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's largest company, is accused of corruption and money laundering.
He was detained as he arrived at Rio de Janeiro's main international airport on a return trip from London, and he was later transferred to the southern city of Curitiba, in Paraná state.
The arrest was made as part of Operation Lava Jato, or Car Wash, a major investigation into allegations that Petrobras executives accepted bribes from supplier companies in exchange for securing substantial contracts with the oil giant. It is alleged that the kickback scheme funded a number of political parties and their election campaigns.
Federal Public Prosecutors said in a statement that Cerveró's arrest was based on "indications that the former director is continuing to commit crimes and will hide from Justice" by transferring money and real estate to relatives, including "three apartments acquired with funds of dubious origin."
His legal team has reiterated previous denials of involvement in and knowledge of the alleged schemes, and is working to get Cerveró a habeas corpus.
The former exec is one of 39 individuals indicted in December under the investigation for the formation of a cartel to transfer funds from a kickback scheme linked to Petrobras construction projects to several political parties, including the ruling Workers' Party.
Fourteen suspects are currently being held in connection with the operation, according to GloboNews.
The scandal has rocked the Brazilian economy and driven shares and bonds of Petrobras to multiyear lows. It also threatened the re-election of President Dilma Rousseff, who run on a Workers' Party ticket and was on the Petrobras board of executives from 2003 to 2010. Rousseff has denied any knowledge of the scheme.
Cerveró is the third former Petrobras executive to be arrested as part of the investigation. Last year, police also arrested Renato Duque, who was later released, and Paulo Roberto Costa, who is under house arrest in Rio de Janeiro after striking a plea bargain with investigators for a reduced sentence.
Between 2003 and 2008, Cerveró headed the company's international division. It was during this time that Petrobras acquired a refinery in Pasadena, Texas, at a purchase price that public prosecutors say far exceeded the true cost of the facility.
Petrobras bought the refinery for $1.2 billion, which prosecutors say was 27 times more than what the previous company, Astra Oil, had paid for it. This transaction forms one of the central strands of the ongoing investigation.
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