Brazilian prosecutors accuse Techint/Tenaris executives of corruption

Monday, 08 June 2020 00:36:02 (GMT+3)   |   Sao Paulo
       

Brazilian prosecutors have accused executives from the Techint Group, a holding that owns Latin America-focused steelmaker Ternium and tube maker Tenaris, of corruption, SteelOrbis has learned.

According to a document obtained by SteelOrbis, prosecutors claim Techint and Tenaris-related executives bribed a former executive of Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras to benefit Confab Industrial SA, also known as Tenaris Confab, a subsidiary of Tenaris.

Techint owns Tenaris, which in turn owns Confab Industrial S.A or Tenaris Confab, an ERW rolling mill and a SAW rolling mill with one spiral line and one longitudinal line.

Confab Industrial SA has a welded pipe manufacturing facility located in the city of Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo state, with a 500,000 mt/year capacity. According to Tenaris, it processes steel coils and plates to produce welded steel pipes with an outside diameter range from 5 1⁄2 to 100 inches for various applications, including OCTG and line pipe for oil, petrochemical and gas applications.

Prosecutors argued that Techint executives paid over $10 million to Renato Duque, a former director of services for Petrobras, to award Confab contracts between 2007 and 2010 in both Brazil and Argentina.

The scheme resulted in nine tubing contracts awarded Petrobras by to Confab, which were worth at the time BRL 2.6 billion ($557.9 million), prosecutors estimated. Prosecutors labeled the corruption scheme as “complex” and “sophisticated.”

Prosecutors also claimed the Techint Group hired a consulting company and “intermediaries” to act as a money laundering point between the holding and the Petrobras former executive. Prosecutors said evidence was obtained through international legal cooperation.


Similar articles

Net profit declines sharply at Aço Verde Brasil

28 Mar | Steel News

Ex-Brazil BPI exporters achieve slight rise in latest deals to US amid better scrap sentiment

28 Mar | Scrap & Raw Materials

Brazilian high-grade iron ore price declines sharply in two days

27 Mar | Scrap & Raw Materials

Vale selected to begin award negotiations for US briquette plant

26 Mar | Steel News

Prices stable for Brazilian slab export deals

26 Mar | Flats and Slab

Brazilian high-grade iron ore price stable from last week

25 Mar | Scrap & Raw Materials

CRC import price offers stable in Brazil

25 Mar | Flats and Slab

Price gap between low and high-phosphorus Brazilian BPI narrows in last deals

25 Mar | Scrap & Raw Materials

Brazilian crude steel production increases in February

22 Mar | Steel News

Vale and Samarco subject to lawsuit in the Netherlands

20 Mar | Steel News