A former trader at oil firm Petrobras has signed a plea bargain agreement with B...
RIO DE JANEIRO/HOUSTON - A former trader at oil firm Petrobras has signed a plea bargain agreement with Brazilian prosecutors investigating bribery allegations, defense lawyers and prosecutors said, a potential breakthrough in a case involving some of the world’s top commodity trading houses.
He is the first former Petrobras employee known to have formally flipped in the Brazilian bribery and corruption probe. In court documents, Brazilian prosecutors have portrayed Berkowitz, who went by the code name “Batman” in messages with alleged co-conspirators, as a central player in the kickback scheme and a recipient of Vitol bribes. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a separate probe of the matter, Reuters reported last February.
Trafigura, which has denied that its current management knew of improper payments, referred Reuters to a November statement that said it “is continuing to keep these matters under review and is taking the allegations previously made seriously.”Glencore declined to comment on Tuesday. Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment.
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