Most folks think of FCPA violations as they apply outside the United States. But corruption is certainly universal and has direct impact here in the U.S. That point was once again driven home to The Man From FCPA when reports indicated that Petrobras will soon consider offers to sell a refinery located in Pasadena, a city immediately adjacent to Houston, which has been the subject of bribery allegations for years and is integral to the Petrobras corruption scandal.
Petrobras bought the refinery for $1.2bn in 2006 from Astra Oil, which had purchased it the year before for only $42.5 million. Brazilian regulators believe the company was directed to overpay for the purchase of the refinery by corrupt Petrobras officials who were then rebated the excess money into their Swiss bank accounts by the seller. This corrupt sale was only one part of the greater Petrobras corruption investigation, dubbed Operation Car Wash.
