Brasilia, Dec 4 (EFE).- Brazil's comptroller general's office has opened cases against eight leading construction groups suspected of participating in a corruption scheme revolving around state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
The companies targeted in the probe are leading Brazilian engineering groups Camargo Correa, Engevix, Galvao Engenharia, Iesa, Mendes Junior, OAS, Queiroz Galvao and UTC-Constran, the office said in a statement Wednesday, adding that the investigation could be extended to other companies.
The cases may result in these companies being banned from obtaining government contracts and being hit with fines and other penalties.
Last month, police arrested 16 senior executives of these firms on charges of forming a cartel to divvy up Petrobras contracts and overcharge the oil giant.
As part of that same alleged graft scheme, the companies paid large sums in kickbacks to politicians and political parties, investigators say.
Paulo Roberto Costa, a former Petrobras downstream director who has blown the whistle on the massive corruption scheme as part of a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors, has told an investigative judge that 3 percent of each contract in the refineries and supply area was funneled to political groupings allied with the ruling Workers Party.
He also said this week the corruption model uncovered at Petrobras is seen in all of the country's public-works projects.
"What happened at Petrobras is occurring all over Brazil: in (projects for) roads, railways, airports, ports and hydroelectric plants! It's just a matter of investigating because it's happening," Costa told a congressional committee on Tuesday.
