Former director of the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, Jorge Zelada has been sentenced to twelve years in prison, as part of an investigation into bribery and corruption.
Jorge Zelada, who ran Petrobras’s international division, was convicted of money-laundering and corruption.
Petrobras manager, Eduardo Costa Musa, and two others were also jailed.
Reports are that the men were paid millions of dollars in bribes by a Petrobras contractor.
The investigation also found that Jorge Zelada had transferred huge amounts of money offshore into bank accounts he owned in China.
More than 100 people have now been arrested in the two-year investigation, including politicians and former top executives at Petrobras, and some of the country’s biggest construction firms.
The corruption scandal has cost Petrobras over $16bn, including $2bn that went straight to corrupt executives and firms.