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Brazil prosecutors charge ex- Petrobras CEO in graft probe

In this Oct. 28, 2010 file photo, a view of the Petrobras offshore ship platform FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prosecutors in Brazil have filed corruption and money laundering charges against a former CEO of the state oil company for allegedly receiving bribes from a construction company. (Felipe Dana / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SAO PAULO – Prosecutors in Brazil have filed corruption and money laundering charges against a former CEO of the state oil company Petrobras for allegedly receiving bribes from a construction company.

Prosecutor Athayde Ribeiro Costa told reporters on Tuesday that Aldemir Bendine received the equivalent of more than $950,000 in bribes from construction conglomerate Odebrecht.

Odebrecht is at the center of a massive kickback scheme that prosecutors say inflated contracts at Petrobras and other state companies.

Bendine was taken into custody late July. He served as Petrobras’ chief executive from 2015 to 2016 and before that was CEO at state-run bank Banco do Brasil from 2009 to 1015.

Costa said that if convicted, Bendine could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.