Former Petrobas Chief Arrested Over Car Wash Bribes

Brazil's Federal Police arrested Aldemir Bendine, former director of Petrobras and Bank of Brazil Thursday, charged with receiving almost US$1 million in bribes from the country's scandal-ridden construction firm, Odebrecht.

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His detainment was part of a series of temporary arrests and search and seizures, ordered by the court related to the Car Wash investigations.

Federal prosecutors also claim that they are in possession of details where Bendine requested a payoff of over US$5 million from Odebrecht AgroIndustrial.

They also assert that “on the eve of assuming the presidency of Petrobras, which occurred on Feb. 6, 2015, Aldemir Bendine and one of his financial operators again requested a payoff,” from Marcelo Odebrecht and Fernando Reis.

Marcelo Odebrecht and Fernando Reis, according to the Rio Times, were top Odebrecht executives who signed a plea bargain deal with Brazil's Public Prosecutor's Office to be informants on cases of public corruption in exchange for reduced sentences. Subsequent investigations added gas to the already fiery Car Wash investigations which have rocked almost every facet of politics in the country.

Between 2009 and 2015, Bendine was president of Brazil's largest national bank and from 2015 to 2016 he headed the national oil company.

Originating from rather humble beginnings, focused on investigating a single executive who'd allegedly received bribes for contract exchanges in 2014, the Car Wash investigations would mushroom into Brazil's largest graft scandal. Three years on, it has resulted in the incarceration of top CEOs and executives, and high-ranking politicians.

BBC reported that even Michel Temer, Brazil's current president, has been formally indicted by the federal supreme court on charges of corruption, criminal organization, and obstruction of justice, all of which are related to the Car Wash investigations.