Brazil’s biggest corruption scandal has engulfed a Texas refinery where Petroleo Brasileiro SA officials allegedly took bribes to push through an acquisition.
A team of police and prosecutors have found evidence that a Belgium trading company paid $15 million in bribes to secure the sale of the refinery in Pasadena, Texas, to Petrobras, police and prosecutors said Monday. Brazil could cancel the acquisition or seek compensation, and Astra Oil, a division of Belgium-based holding Transcor Astra Group SA, could face consequences in Brazil and in the U.S., they said.
“The company that sold it paid bribes,” prosecutor Carlos Lima said at a press conference in Curitiba, where they are based. “This is a defect in the deal and I believe we can seek reparation.”
Efforts to reach Astra’s offices in the U.S. and Belgium by phone were unsuccessful. Petrobras didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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