Pedro Barusco tells congressional hearing ‘I got a piece; they got a piece’ and pledges to return $97m to public coffers as part of plea deal
A former Petrobras executive told a congressional hearing in Brazil on Tuesday that the ruling political party received up to $200m skimmed from contracts with the state-run oil company, reiterating claims made in plea bargain testimony.
Pedro Barusco, a former executive at Petrobras’s services division, said he had received payments as early as 1997 and in larger amounts starting in 2004. He said the Workers’ Party treasurer, João Vaccari, and Renato Duque, who previously ran the services unit, also benefited.