- The latest accusations in the Petrobras (PBR +1.7%) scandal ratchet up the level of alleged corruption, as Financial Times reports that prosecutors claim a former treasurer of Brazil’s formerly ruling Workers Party took money originally destined for a research and development center for PBR’s ultra-deepwater oilfields and used it to pay a samba queen a monthly stipend.
- The steady stream of corruption allegations is proving an irritant for PBR, not just with criminal investigators in Brazil but with institutional investors in New York, as a class-action lawsuit backed by a range of the biggest global pension funds is suing the company in Manhattan district court for allegedly misrepresenting its financial accounts by hiding widespread fraud.
- The lawsuit says the facts overwhelmingly suggest there was a violation of securities law and that the trial should focus not on disputing whether there was fraud but on how much PBR should be required to pay investors in compensation.
- Lawyers for the plaintiffs are seeking to speed up the lawsuit by filing a motion for a partial summary judgment ahead of a trial scheduled to start Sept. 19.