(Brazilian Petrobas image via Courthouse News)
BROOKLYN (CN) Appearing in federal court on a drizzly Thursday in Brooklyn, the former CEO of Brazil’s largest petrochemical company pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy charges, saying he helped to facilitate payments to government officials to secure business deals.
Jose Carlos Grubisich, 64, led Braskem SA from 2002 to 2008. During that time, he told the court, he was asked to create an “off-the-books slush fund” that would pay an unidentified foreign official $4.3 million, in order to retain a contract with the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Grubisich admitted to having helped create offshore shell companies that funneled money into the fund these companies “did not provide legitimate services to Braskem,” he said.