A federal police officer carries a pouch as he arrives at the Federal Police headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil June 21, 2018. REUTERS/Leonardo Benassatto
June 21, 2018
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian authorities arrested 15 people on Thursday as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in highway contracts in the state of Sao Paulo, according to a statement from federal prosecutors and police.
One of the targets was Laurence Casagrande Lourenco, former head of state-run Dersa, the company in charge of Sao Paulo’s highways, court documents showed. Lourenco was the head of state-run utility Companhia Energetica de Sao Paulo SA, widely known as Cesp, until Thursday. However, the company said in a late afternoon statement that he had resigned.
He also served as transport and logistics secretary for former Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin, now a centrist presidential candidate polling in the single-digits in recent surveys.
It could not be immediately determined if Lourenco is represented by an attorney. Cesp did not return a request for comment.
Prosecutors said in the statement that targets included former executives of Dersa, and executives of construction firms OAS SA [OAEP.UL] and Mendes Junior Engenharia SA.
Under the alleged scheme, Sao Paulo’s state government was over-billed more than 600 million reais ($158 million) for construction works on a major highway that rings the city of Sao Paulo, the capital of Sao Paulo state.
(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker)
