RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian authorities decided Monday to indict the treasurer of the ruling Workers' Party along with other 26 people, in a high-profile graft case that rocked the state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras.
In addition to Joao Vaccari Neto, the treasurer, former Petrobras directors Renato Duque and Pedro Barusco are also among the indicted.
Money dealer Alberto Yousseff and another former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa, who have already been indicted in other phases of the investigation, are also included in the 27.
All the accused are charged with money laundering and corruption.
According to the investigators, senior Petrobras executives charged million of U.S. dollars in bribes from construction companies in exchange for contracts. The executives also used the money to buy political favor via fake political donations.
The Workers' Party, which has been ruling Brazil in the past 12 years, received 24 such donations with a total amount of 1.3 million U.S. dollars, they said.
