By Will Connors
RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian authorities on Wednesday accused
Italian oil company Saipem of being involved in a corruption scheme
involving Brazil's state-run oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA,
the latest international firm to be implicated in the wide-ranging
scandal.
Brazilian federal prosecutors accused former Petrobras services
director Renato Duque, who was arrested earlier this year for
allegedly taking part in the scheme and is currently in prison, of
accepting bribes from João Bernardi, a sales representative for
Saipem in Brazil.
Both men were charged with money laundering and corruption on
Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that in exchange for Saipem winning
contracts with Petrobras, Mr. Bernardi and colleagues paid $1
million in bribes to Mr. Duque through Swiss bank accounts, and
gave him 13 works of art worth roughly $174,000.
At one point, prosecutors said, Mr. Bernardi was robbed in
downtown Rio de Janeiro as he carried 100,000 Brazilian reais
(about $30,000) in cash to give to Mr. Duque.
An attorney for Mr. Bernardi couldn't be located.
A spokeswoman for Saipem wasn't immediately available for
comment.
Saipem, which is 43%-owned by Italian oil-and-gas giant Eni Spa,
is also embroiled in a corruption scandal in Algeria. Italian
magistrates contend that Saipem paid kickbacks to secure more than
EUR8 billion (about $8.8 billion) in contracts in the North African
country. The magistrates are seeking to indict several former top
managers, including former Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni.
Through a spokesman in February, Mr. Scaroni has denied any
wrongdoing. Eni has, in the past, maintained it has no control over
Saipem, despite its large stake.
Saipem isn't the first international firm implicated in the
Petrobras scandal. Brazilian prosecutors say the shipbuilding arm
of South Korean conglomerate Samsung paid bribes to a former
executive at Petrobras, and have also accused Swedish builder
Skanska AB of taking part in the corruption at Petrobras.
Samsung and Skanska officials didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment. Previously, Skanska has said it has a zero
tolerance against corruption and takes the situation seriously.
Last July, Skanska announced it would shut down its Latin America
operations.
Brazilian investigators allege some of Brazil's largest
construction firms formed a cartel to drive up prices of Petrobras
contracts and kicked back some of the windfall to Brazilian
politicians, top political parties and corrupt executives at the
oil firm.
Some have admitted wrongdoing in exchange for lesser punishment,
prosecutors say, while others have denied involvement and await
trial. Petrobras says it is a victim of the alleged scheme and is
cooperating with authorities.
Eric Sylvers in Milan contributed to this article.
Write to Will Connors at william.connors@wsj.com
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