Brazil court accepts charges against execs in metro corruption case

Sao Paulo, Jun 25 (EFE).- A Brazilian court has accepted prosecutors' charges against six executives, including a former director of French rail transportation giant Alstom, who are accused of forming a cartel to divvy up and fix prices for urban train and metro contracts in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, judiciary sources confirmed Thursday.

The Sao Paulo court on Wednesday accepted the charges against Cesar Ponce de Leon, the erstwhile Alstom executive; David Lopes, Mauricio Memoria and Wilson Dare, of the company Temoinsa do Brasil Ltda.; Telmo Giolito Porto of Tejofran; and Adagir Abreu of the firm MPE.

The executives are accused of crimes against Brazil's economic order and public administration for allegedly forming a cartel to divvy up contracts for the renovation of 98 metro trains between 2008 and 2009.

Judge Cynthia Maria da Silva said the evidence gathered by federal prosecutors against the executives "shows their participation in the criminal acts under investigation."

The judge, however, refused to accept prosecutors' preventive detention request for Ponce de Leon, ruling that the fact that he is out of the country does not imperil the investigation.

Alstom, for its part, said in a statement that it respects Brazilian law and the rules of the bidding processes in which it participates.

The corruption scheme came to light in May 2013 after German multinational conglomerate Siemens agreed to cooperate with an investigation launched by Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense, or Cade.