Brasilia, November 30 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Brazil’s Petrobras Chairman Murilo Ferreira resigned Monday when the leave of absence he took September 14th was due to expire, the state-run oil company announced in statement.
Luiz Nelson Guedes, who took over the chairmanship when Ferreira went on leave of absence, will remain in the position until the board of advisors meets. The statement did not say when the board would meet.
Ferreira's resignation comes a day after Brazilian financial entrepreneur Andres Esteves resigned his positions as president and chief executive of the Grupo BTG Pactual SA, following his arrest due to his alleged links to an investigation into the corruption scandal affecting the biggest independent investment bank of Latin America.
Prosecutors are preparing to lay formal charges against the multimillionaire, who is accused, along with lawmaker Eduardo Cunha, of obstructing justice in an investigation into a bribes related to Petrobras. Esteves has denied the accusations.
In a new twist to the two-year investigation, O Globo reported that Brazil's federal police found documents that allegedly link the Grupo BTG bank with bribe payments to various lawmakers.
According to the Brazilian newspaper, BTG Pactual paid US$11.7 million to Cunha, the speaker of the Lower House of Congress, to approve legislation in favor of the bank.
Esteves is said to continue owning 28.8 percent of the bank he founded in 2008. He is also holding on to a “golden stock” in BTG, which gives him the right to veto any decision the board takes.
On September 14th, Ferreira took leave of absence citing personal reasons less than five months after being appointed by Petrobras to help the company out of huge debt and a corruption scandal.
Ferreira, however, continued in his role as chief executive officer of Vale SA, an iron-ore mining company.