BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo pledged on Wednesday to punish any investigators found to have broken the law by using unauthorized bugs or leaking documents to the press while probing corruption at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
The landmark probe that has jailed powerful engineering executives and implicated dozens of politicians is coming under scrutiny for lengthy pre-trial detentions and other aggressive tactics some lawyers say flout the law.
Former executives at Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, and some of its suppliers are accused of inflating the value of service contracts and funneling extra money back to themselves and to political parties, including that of President Dilma Rousseff.
Cardozo said he had not had access to an ongoing federal police inquiry over a bug found in convicted money launderer Alberto Youssef’s cell. Two officers said it was not authorized by a court, and Cardozo warned of serious consequences.
