Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Exonerated in Petrobras Scandal

Commission spokesperson, Deputy Luiz Sergio Nobrega de Oliveira said “there was no proof” against Rousseff or Lula in any of documents examined by the parliamentary commission, according to EFE.

The 754-page report will be voted on next Thursday by the commission of 27 lawmakers, the majority of whom are pro-government.

According to the parliamentary report, the crimes committed in the Petrobras scheme were “personally motivated,” clearing political parties and other implicated companies of wrongdoing.

The report also clears former Petrobras Presidents Graça Foster and José Sérgio Gabrielli. The parliamentary commission states that Petrobras was a “victim of a cartel” created by construction companies “with the complicity of corrupt officials.”

According to the Federal Police, who also investigated the case, construction companies doctored contracts with Petrobras to inflate their value and shared the difference between Petrobras executives and the politicians who aided the scheme.

Between 2004 and 2014, the corruption network illegally appropriated US$2 billion from the state firm.

The scandal has implicated roughly 50 politicians, among them the former treasurer of the Workers’ Party João Vaccari, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes from the petroleum company.

The commission has put forward 14 legislative proposals to improve the management of state companies and strengthen anti-corruption laws.

Investigations into the scandal began last February and officially concluded today. The case will continue to be probed by the federal police, the Curitiba court and the Supreme Court.

Edited by Ivan Martínez