BRASÍLIA: Brazil's interim president Michel Temer said Thursday a former oil executive's allegations that he was involved in a massive corruption scandal shaking the country were "frivolous, lying and criminal."
Temer took to national television to defend himself after Sergio Machado, the former chief executive of Transpetro -- a subsidiary of state oil company Petrobras -- told prosecutors the interim president personally asked him for money from an illegal kickbacks scheme.
"I want to address Sergio Machado's irresponsible, frivolous, lying and criminal statement," said a visibly irritated Temer.
"I'm not going to let this pass. I am speaking out with indignant words to register yet again that this frivolity cannot prevail."
Machado, who is cooperating with investigators under a plea bargain, said Temer asked him for 1.5 million reals ($431,000) in diverted Petrobras cash for an ally's campaign for mayor of Sao Paulo in 2012.
The oil executive told prosecutors Temer met with him to ask for "illegal resources from companies that had contracts with Transpetro" to finance the campaign of then-congressman Gabriel Chalita, according to court documents published Wednesday.
Machado said he arranged bribes for Temer and more than 10 other politicians, including Senate speaker Renan Calheiros and Tourism Minister Henrique Eduardo Alves, both members of Temer's center-right PMDB party.
Temer took over last month from suspended president Dilma Rousseff, who is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate on unrelated charges of illegally manipulating public accounts to hide the government's budget problems.
He has repeatedly denied involvement in the Petrobras scheme, in which contractors colluded with the company to overbill it by some $2 billion, bribing politicians and their parties along the way.
But the Petrobras probe remains a major threat to his administration.
Two of his ministers have already been forced to resign over corruption allegations, including his transparency minister.
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