We've been reading of the scandal for quite awhile: government officials shaking down contractors for bribes to get government contracts associated with government owned oil giant PETROBRAS. Seems like contractors were adding 3% to all contracts and the money was finding its way to oil company officials and to members of the legislature in Brasilia. The money then somehow, found its way to........Switzerland, of all places. You want to launder money? Come to our Alpine Wonderland, where secrecy meets security which meets anonymity which meets no taxes which meets hidden wealth which meets corrupt bankers in a conspiracy to rob the people of Brasil. Oh, the lovely Swiss bankers, so well groomed, so corrupt.
Who is behind all this stuff? Who ratted out the guilty parties? One of the partici0pants, of course. Using a tried and true American tactic- offering a plea deal for testimony, Brazilian prosecutors have struck a rich vein of revealing facts about who did what when regarding the taking of bribes and illegal payments. Several young, 30 something lawyers, graduates of various top tier American law schools, these young lions came back home and set to work to change a corrupt "system" that has allowed corrupt elected politicians and corrupt business officials to get away with decades of stealing from the nations taxpayers. One of the first to accept a plea deal, a Mr.Costa, provided information that helped to establish the l-inks to many of the perpetrators of the widespread corruption. He provided names, dates, amounts, locations of delivery, and locations of accounts where money was hidden from the government. Sitting President Rousseff claims to have had no prior knowledge of the scandal, despite her former roles with the company.
The investigation will go on for years. It is just beginning. Bravo to- the young lawyers. They are asking the Congress to change some laws. Gook luck to him.
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