The Swiss Attorney General’s office said on Wednesday it has widened a corruption investigation into Brazilian oil firm Petrobras to include Latin America’s largest engineering and construction company, Odebrecht SA, and its subsidiaries.
Swiss authorities have been collaborating with Brazil on the Petrobras probe since at least March. Their help with an ongoing Brazilian investigation of Odebrecht, however, could be key in tracking bribes allegedly paid to former Petrobras executives.
“Subsidiaries of Odebrecht are suspected of using Swiss accounts to make bribery payments to former Petrobras executives, who also maintained Swiss bank accounts,” the Attorney General’s office said in a statement.
Marcelo Odebrecht, chief executive of Brazil-based Odebrecht SA, was arrested in Sao Paulo last month and prosecutors are expected to present formal charges soon as part of the deepening kickback scandal engulfing Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the oil major is formally known.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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