Three global oil trading companies with strong ties to the UK face being dragged into Brazil’s “Car Wash” investigation, after a report raised questions about their connections to businessmen named in the vast corruption scandal.
Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura, which boast combined annual revenues of more than half a trillion dollars, feature in a report by the campaign group Global Witness that uncovers links to men accused or convicted of involvement in the bribery scandal.
The Car Wash controversy has had seismic effects in Brazil, toppling one president and leading to the imprisonment of another, as well some of the country’s most prominent business figures.
It involved executives from the state oil company, Petrobras, who were found to have pocketed kickbacks on multi-billion-dollar deals arranged by intermediaries – with some of the money routed to political parties.
Global Witness has called on the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and the US authorities to investigate alleged ties between businessmen named in the Car Wash scandal and the three oil trading giants.
The campaign group said its analysis of court documents and testimony indicated the firms had questions to answer over their potential links to the scandal.
Each of the three companies said there was no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing on their part.
For more read The Guardian
