On Thursday morning, Brazilian police questioned the treasurer of Brazil’s governing Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party—PT), João Vaccari Neto, in connection with the deepening corruption scandal that has engulfed the state-run oil company Petroleos Brasileiros SA (Brazilian Petroleum SA—Petrobras). Vaccari’s questioning came just a day after the oil giant’s chief executive, Maria das Graças Foster, and five other executives resigned in connection to the scandal. After the interrogation, Vaccari released a statement on the PT website. “All the questions asked by the police chief were clarified,” Vaccari declared. “I answered everything transparently, and with total candor and tranquility.”
Vaccari has been under suspicion for months, since a former Petrobras director, Paulo Roberto Costa—detained last March and now cooperating with authorities—alleged that Vaccari was the intermediary between corrupt elements of Petrobras and the PT. Another informer in the case, Pedro Barusco, has alleged that Vaccari had collected 200 million Brazilian reals (about $72 million) for the PT. “[Vaccari] never received cash payments as treasurer of the PT,” Vaccari’s lawyer is reported to have said. The PT has reportedly released a statement declaring that the party has only received legal donations, and that all donations have been registered with the country’s electoral authorities.
While formal charges have not been lodged against Vaccari, his questioning represents a further challenge for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as opposition parties prepare to launch a congressional probe into the scandal. This morning, her government moved quickly to stanch the fallout from Wednesday’s crisis, naming Aldemir Bendine, the current president of the Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil), as the new chief executive of Petrobras.
