For some months already, the Brazilian judiciary has been unravelling the way billions of dollars were siphoned away from State-owned Petrobras into the ruling political party’s coffers and pockets of its friends. Documents were seized from his home and the bank’s headquarters in São Paulo, said another source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
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Allegedly, Amaral and Esteves would help Cervero escape from Brazil and hide in either Europe or Venezuela in exchange for not disclosing information to authorities.
Federal police also searched the senator’s offices in Congress. No reasons or details have been given by the police for either arrest.
The political gridlock that has obstructed economic policy this year is likely to worsen with the jailing of Amaral, one of about 50 Brazilian politicians under investigation for their alleged roles in a vast kickback scandal at the oil giant known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
The high-ranking arrests came after a phase of corruption scandals have left Brazil’s economy in a stagnant state. The banking billionaire was arrested Wednesday together with leader of the governing Workers Party in the Senate, Delcidio Amaral, a BBC report says. It has even caused Brazilians to demand an impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
A BTG Pactual spokesman declined to comment.
The country’s stock index, Bovespa, is down 5.5% this year.
Amaral allegedly tried to convince former Petrobras director Nestor Cerveró, who was arrested in January, to not mention him or Esteves in testimonies to federal prosecutors, according to the Supreme Court press official, who cited the accusations read aloud Wednesday by Judge Teori Zavascki.
Esteves in 2006 sold what was then Banco Pactual to UBS Group AG for $2.6 billion. The arrests are part of the so-called Lava Jato corruption investigation into bribes paid between Petrobras and big builders.
Brazil’s central bank said it was monitoring the arrest of Esteves arrest to see whether it would impact operations and trigger regulatory action.
He said was “perplexed by the facts” that led to the arrest.
Esteves has been involved in various deals with Petrobras over the years, most notably Sete Brasil.
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The moves highlighted investors’ concerns whether Latin America’s largest independent investment bank can thrive without savvy founder André Esteves, Brazil’s most influential dealmaker. BTG had reportedly teamed up with Petrobras, as well as partners in 2010, to create the rig-supplier.
