tiago angelo, Magician , The R$2.7 billion received by the Federal Public Ministry of Curitiba from fines imposed on Petrobras in the United States was an award given to “Lava Jato”, which helped US authorities obtain R$20.1 billion from the Brazilian state-owned company Was. And not “recovery of public funds”, as Paraná prosecutors sold it.
This is the conclusion of the doctoral thesis “American hegemony and the fight against corruption in Brazil: the case of Operation Lava Zato”, written by Arthur Pinheiro de Azevedo Banzato, Professor of International Relations at the Federal University of Grande Dorados in Mato Grosso. Grosso do Sul.
The first sanction against Petrobras occurred in January 2018, when the company reached a US$2.95 billion (R$9.6 billion at the time) settlement to end a legal dispute with American private shareholders, who filed a class action in the United States Was. He blamed the losses on ongoing corruption schemes in Brazil. The entire amount was allotted to the shareholders.
A second settlement, worth US$853.2 million (R$3.4 billion), was closed in September 2018 with the Justice Department for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a rule that allows US authorities to investigate incidents involving And allows to punish. In other countries.
The only amount returned from Petrobras to Brazil was part of this fine: 80% of the amount, or US$682 thousand (R$2.7 billion), was allocated to the Brazilian MPF. The remaining 20% was divided between the United States Treasury and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Also in September 2018, Petrobras was fined US$1.78 billion (R$7.1 billion) in SEC administrative proceedings. The entire amount was allocated to the Securities and Exchange Commission itself.
The data is in Benzato’s doctoral thesis, published in October 2023 and prepared with the support of the Master’s Program in International Relations at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. All amounts related to fines are based on the dollar exchange rate at the time the restrictions were implemented.
reward – In an interview with the electronic magazine Consultor Juridica, the researcher said that, although Lava Jato considered R$2.7 billion as the recovered value, it is, in fact, a kind of reward for the help given by prosecutors to the authorities Americans.
The actions of the MPF appear counterintuitive: if on the one hand the United States saw the opportunity to punish Petrobras and guarantee its interests by acting in favor of American companies, on the other hand Curitiba prosecutors deliberately targeted state-owned oil companies outside Brazil. Tried to harm the company. To collect a portion of the money and create the infamous Lava Jato “Foundation”.
The private entity, which would have been managed by prosecutors, did not proceed further only because it was blocked by the Federal Supreme Court. Only after the STF’s decision did R$2.7 billion actually go to the union.
“The MPF adopted a speech in which it said it was ‘recovered’ money. Whereas, in reality, it is not so. This is a fine which was imposed with the help of MPF and they got the amount for the help. And that was money that will go to the Lava Jato Foundation”, says Benzato.
As he explains, Lava Jato’s partnership with US officials occurred irregularly, outside official channels. Regular cooperation should be carried out through the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation (DRCI), an organization attached to the Ministry of Justice.
The MPF’s illegal actions were accompanied by sharing of evidence with US authorities. Since 2015, FBI investigators were received in Brazil, without the permission of the Ministry of Justice. The following year, the Americans interrogated former directors of Petrobras and made settlements, also without any authorization.
“The MP brokered this agreement between Petrobras and the DOJ (US Department of Justice), sharing evidence and materials of the allegations outside official channels. The MPs were original, so much so that they benefited.
According to the researcher, in fact, there is a figure that can be classified as “recovered”: among the agreements reached in Brazil between the MPF and collaborators, what part of the values would have been obtained through corruption was investigated. Was returned.
Benzato says that in the United States, what happened was a reward, because the MPF agreed to help punish a Brazilian state-owned company outside Brazil in exchange for a share of the fine.
“The public ministry, which in theory should act in the national interest, acted against Brazilian heritage. This is in contrast to what happens in the rest of the world, where states use their legal systems to leverage their companies, creating money and jobs for their state.
Path of Destruction – Benzato’s research presents data based on surveys by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIES) on the impacts of Lava Jato on other Brazilian companies such as Petrobras and Odebrecht.
In late 2017 the construction company and Braskem were fined US$3.6 billion (R$11.6 billion), also with the help of Lava Jato. The agreement signed at that time had a provision to refund 80% of the value to MPF. The remaining 20% was divided equally between American and Swiss officials. This is the largest fine ever imposed under the FCPA.
In the case of Petrobras, investments in exploration and production amounted to US$48.1 billion in 2015. The following year, at the height of Lava Jato, it fell to US$15.8 billion.
Since then, increased investment in exploration, production, refining, biofuels, and science and technology has given way to the typical model of exploration and production that existed before pre-salt in 2006.
“Petrobras made a radical change in its policy. It stopped being a strategic company, invested in local knowledge, science and technology and refinement, and returned to the model of the 90s, when only exploration took place”, explains the researcher.
According to Benzato’s survey, the same incident happened to Odebrecht. In 2014, the company’s gross revenues were US$107 billion; In 2019 it fell to US$78 billion.
In the same years, the number of employees of the company decreased from 168 thousand to 35 thousand. And its international presence also declined: in 2014, Odebrecht operated in 27 countries; Five years later, at 14.
