SAO PAULO: The treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party, Joao Vaccari Neto, was detained for questioning Thursday in a widening scandal surrounding oil giant Petrobras.
A spokesman for the federal police told AFP that Vaccari was temporarily held for interrogation in a corruption probe that has drawn in a number of politicians -- including members of President Dilma Rousseff's ruling coalition.
"We want information on the cash donations he requested, legal or illegal, from people who had contracts with Petrobras," prosecutor Carlos Fernando Lima told a press conference.
Brazilian media reports say suspects arrested in the investigation have told police that Vaccari Neto funneled illicit cash from Petrobras to the Workers' Party.
The graft allegations have dealt a devastating blow to Petrobras, the largest company in the world's seventh-largest economy.
The arrest comes one day after Petrobras chief executive Graca Foster resigned as a result of the scandal, along with the entire board of directors.
A new CEO and board are due to be named Friday.
Since 2012, the year Foster took the helm, the company's shares have plunged 66.7 percent, erasing around $80 billion in stock value.
Investigators say Petrobras executives and construction companies colluded to inflate contracts by up to six percent with illicit surcharges, stealing $4 billion from the oil giant's coffers over the course of a decade.
The extra cash was passed on to front companies to be laundered and paid out in bribes, prosecutors say.
Rousseff, who was sworn in for a new four-year term on January 1, chaired the Petrobras board from 2003 to 2010, during much of the time when the illicit activity is said to have been going on.
The investigation also targets the country's largest construction firm, accused of bribing Petrobras executives to secure big contracts.
Police launched a new sting operation Thursday, dispatching 200 federal agents and 25 tax inspectors to arrest four suspects, detain 18 others for questioning and carry out 40 search warrants.
So far 39 people have been arrested in the investigation. No politicians have yet been arrested.
The speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, authorized a Congressional inquiry into the graft allegations Thursday that will begin work later this month.
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