Brazilian oil company Petrobras' $17 billion write-down, announced last week, may have been meant to close the accounting on a sprawling corruption scandal, but could instead provide fresh ammunition for a U.S. class action lawsuit.
President Dilma Rousseff's government denied on Wednesday that it is looking to strike a "grand bargain" with Brazilian construction and engineering firms implicated in the kickback scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Prosecutors who uncovered Brazil's biggest corruption case called on Friday for tougher prison sentences and more legal powers to crack down on rampant graft that costs taxpayers more than the annual budget for education and health.
Brazil's Comptroller-General Office on Wednesday added another six construction and engineering firms to an investigation of contractors that allegedly participated in a corruption ring at state-run oil company Petrobras.
