Brasilia, May 16 (IANS/EFE): Brazilian prosecutors formally charged four ex-members of Congress -- three of whom were already in custody -- over their alleged role in a massive corruption scheme centered on state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.
"Three (of the former lower-house legislators) were already facing criminal accusations but this marks the first formal charges" against lawmakers implicated in the scheme, federal prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol said at a press conference in Curitiba city on Thursday.
Three of the politicians charged with embezzlement, money laundering and other crimes are Andre Vargas, a member of the ruling Workers' Party, or PT; Pedro Correa, of the Progressive Party, or PP, part of the ruling coalition; and Luiz Argolo, of the opposition Solidarity party.
All of them had been arrested in April.
In addition, Correa's daughter, former lawmaker Aline Correa, also of the PP, was formally charged but has not yet been taken into custody.
Also arrested thus far in the probe are five former senior Petrobras executives and more than a score of executives of leading construction companies that had contracts with Petrobras.
The contractors involved in the scheme, which investigators say dates back more than 10 years, would inflate their invoices, splitting the extra money with corrupt Petrobras officials while setting aside some of the loot to pay off politicians who provided cover for the graft, the investigation has shown.
Petrobras, which represents 12 percent of Brazilian gross domestic product, last month wrote off $2 billion in bribery-related costs.
Some of the detainees have entered into plea deals to obtain a reduction in prison sentences and have implicated around 50 politicians who allegedly facilitated the illegal activity.
In March, Brazil's Supreme Court gave prosecutors the green light to investigate dozens of politicians over the graft case, including the heads of Brazil's Senate and lower house, Renan Calheiros and Eduardo Cunha, respectively.
The former treasurer of the Workers' Party, Joao Vaccari, also has been arrested and charged with corruption, criminal conspiracy and money laundering.