Switzerland to Return $70 Million From Banks as Part of Petrobras Probes

ZURICH—Swiss authorities on Thursday said they would facilitate the return of an additional $70 million from banks in Switzerland to Brazil, as part of corruption probes tied to Brazilian state oil company Petró leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

In a statement, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General said it has so far opened dozens of Petrobras probes related to the suspicion of money laundering and the bribery of foreign public officials and examined more than 1,000 accounts at more than 40 Swiss banks.

The banks involved weren't identified.

The Attorney General's Office, which has been investigating the Petrobras matter since early 2014, said roughly $800 million of assets have so far been frozen in Switzerland as a result and that arrangements had been made previously for about $120 million to be returned "to the parties who have incurred related losses."

Investigations of alleged bid-rigging and bribery at Petrobras have drawn in a number of prominent politicians and executives in Brazil.

Earlier this year, a consultant who has worked on campaigns for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was arrested, after prosecutors identified $7.5 million they suspected was stolen from Petrobras and moved to his Swiss bank accounts. He has denied those allegations.

In addition, Marcelo Odebrecht, former chief executive of Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA, was sentenced to 19 years in prison earlier in March after he was convicted of money laundering and other crimes tied to the skimming of money from Petrobras through inflated contracts.

In February, the Swiss Attorney General's Office said an unidentified Brazilian citizen had been arrested in Switzerland, after arriving to close a bank account and move its assets abroad. There was suspicion, the office said, that the Brazilian was involved in the payment of bribes to former Petrobras directors, made from Swiss accounts owned by Odebrecht.

Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber met with his Brazilian counterpart, Rodrigo Janot, in Bern on Thursday to discuss the Petrobras case, Mr. Lauber's office said. The Swiss said they plan to work more closely with the Brazilian authorities in the future.

Write to John Letzing at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2016 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)

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