Big lawsuit settlement in Brazil

Petróleo Brasileiro, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said on Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $2.95 billion to settle a shareholder lawsuit in the United States over a corruption scandal that has ensnared dozens of politicians and corporate executives, including two former Brazilian presidents.

Prosecutors, in a long-running investigation known as Operation Carwash, have claimed that a small number of top officials at the company, known as Petrobras, conspired with a group of other companies to overcharge Petrobras for construction and service work, receiving bribes in return.

The ensuing scandal and vast investigation has implicated dozens of high-level figures like former [p]resident Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff.  Corruption allegations have also dogged the current president, Michel Temer, and several of his close allies.

Petrobras officials believe [that] nearly $3 billion in bribes [was] paid as part of the scheme, which allegedly included gifts of Rolex watches, $3,000 bottles of wine, yachts, helicopters[,] and prostitutes.

The company said on Monday that it was a victim of the bribery scheme and had already recovered 1.475 billion Brazilian rea[l]s, or about $449 million, in restitution.  Petrobras said it would “continue to pursue all available legal remedies from culpable companies and individuals.”