Brazilian authorities on Saturday blasted a news magazine for media “manipulation” as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s administration battles an escalating kickbacks scandal at state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Rousseff’s press service lambasted Veja magazine for alleging that jailed former Petrobras director and whistle-blower Paulo Roberto Costa had sent her e-mails alluding to the payments in 2009.
Veja did not produce any evidence to back its claim but alleged Costa sent the e-mails to Rousseff aiming to thwart attempts by Brazil’s federal accountability office to halt three Petrobras refinery projects, thereby preventing any possibility of kickbacks from those schemes.
Rousseff’s press service slammed Veja’s interpretation as “another episode of journalistic manipulation.”
A statement read: “After trying to interfere in the results of the presidential election ... Veja is now trying to fool its readers by insinuating that, in 2009, the siphoning off of money by Paulo Roberto Costa, Petrobras director fired in March 2012 by President Dilma’s government, was already known about. [However] the illegal practices of Paulo Roberto Costa only came to light in 2014, thanks to investigations carried out by the federal police and justice ministry. Once again, Veja is misinforming its readers and trying to manipulate the facts.”
Rousseff, who is a former chair of Petrobras’ board of directors, has vowed not to interfere in the investigation into Brazil’s biggest company.
However, Brazil’s opposition Democratas Party leader Ronaldo Caiado urged Rousseff and former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to appear themselves before the congressional investigation.
On the eve of last month’s presidential election which saw Rousseff secure a second term, Veja quoted detained money dealer Alberto Youssef as testifying that Rousseff knew about a kickbacks scheme which saw government allies siphon off huge sums of cash from overcharged Petrobras contracts.
Nobody has been convicted in the case but Costa and Yousseff are both in detention and are seeking a plea bargain under the terms of which investigators would give them an eventual reduced sentence in exchange for revealing what they know.
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