MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Veja news portal, the speaker was accused of receiving some $5-million worth bribes to secure two drillship contracts between the state-owned oil company Petrobras and the Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries.
Two more prominent Brazilian politicians, Senator and former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello and former lawmaker Solange Almeida, also face corruption charges linked with investigation into Petrobras activities.
Corruption schemes in Petrobras, revealed in 2014, triggered in Brazil as a wave of discontent towards incumbent Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff, who headed the company for seven years, between 2003 and 2010.
