Petrobras was at the center of the 2014 scandal involving bribery, inflated contracts, and political kickbacks in Brazil.
The scandal emerged through Operation Car Wash, a Brazilian federal investigation that began in 2014. Prosecutors alleged that construction companies overcharged Petrobras for contracts and directed part of the excess money to political parties, executives, and intermediaries. Petrobras executives and business leaders were prosecuted in numerous related cases.
The investigation expanded far beyond the state-controlled oil company and became one of Brazil’s most significant corruption inquiries. It implicated politicians across the political spectrum and contributed to intense public and institutional turmoil. Petrobras recorded substantial losses and impairments connected with the scheme.
The case is sometimes called the Petrobras scandal, although Operation Car Wash covered many companies and transactions. Odebrecht was one of the major construction firms involved, but it was not the company at the center of the scandal; that company was Petrobras.