British engineering company Rolls-Royce Holdings is facing allegations that it paid bribes to Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras in exchange for a $100 million contract to provide gas turbines to power Petrobras oil rigs.
Pedro Barusco, a former Petrobras senior executive, said he received at least $200,000 in bribes from Rolls-Royce (not to be confused with Rolls-Royce Motors), according to court documents. The allegations were first reported by the Financial Times.
Rolls-Royce said British authorities have not yet contacted the company about the allegations. In a statement, however, the company said, “We will take all necessary action to ensure compliance, including cooperating with authorities in any country.”
Since March, Petrobras has been rocked by allegations made by Paulo Roberto Costa, former head of refining, that executives of the state-owned oil company engaged in a money-laundering and bribery scheme whereby billions of dollars were shaved off the value of contracts in the form of kickbacks paid back to Petrobras executives and politicians.
As Compliance Week previously reported, Rolls-Royce already faces an ongoing criminal investigation by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office relating to separate allegations of foreign bribery and corruption. In 2012, Rolls-Royce informed the SFO that it had discovered “matters of concern” in China, Indonesia, and other overseas markets. The Department of Justice is also looking into those allegations.
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