By Ben Tavener
SAO PAULO
Charges will be brought against the presidents of Brazil's two largest construction companies and 10 others detained in the latest phase of a major corruption probe, investigators confirmed Monday.
All 12 suspects detained Friday in the fourteenth and latest round of arrests in Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash) will be charged in the coming days, Federal Police chief Igor Romário de Paula told GloboNews.
"Proceedings may extend to next week, but charges will be brought against all of them," de Paula said, adding that investigators had "sufficient proof" to justify the preventive arrests.
Marcelo Odebrecht, CEO of Odebrecht SA --Latin America's top construction conglomerate -- and Otávio Azevedo, head of Andrade Gutierrez SA -- Brazil's second-largest construction and engineering company -- are among those now being held in Curitiba, in southern Brazil.
About 220 police in four states carried out the detentions, which also included 38 search and seizure orders. Those detained are being investigated for a range of crimes including money laundering, corruption, price-fixing, procurement fraud, and embezzling public funds.
Lava Jato investigators have centered their inquiries on corruption allegations at state-controlled oil giant Petrobras. Business executives have made up the majority of those arrested so far in the wide-ranging investigation but prosecutors have since turned to political targets, arresting the former treasurer of the ruling Workers' Party.
Odebrecht is accused of leading a $2.1 billion kickback scheme at Petrobras. The construction giant, whose offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have been raided by police, said in a statement that the arrests were "unnecessary" as the company, which operates in 20 countries worldwide, was already helping authorities with their investigations.
Marcelo Odebrecht's arrest is seen as a major milestone for the investigation, as many believe he could name names to secure a plea bargain for a lesser sentence, if eventually convicted.
Investigators have accused a string of construction companies of being involved in the corruption scandal, in which inflated contracts between the oil giant and the companies were agreed, with executives, politicians and money changers all allegedly taking a cut of the difference skimmed from the contracts.
