Brazil’s Lavo Jato scandal is "further escalating," according to Samindra Kunti of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. This time bribes "may have been offered in relation to the construction of Arena Corinthians, a 2014 FIFA World Cup venue." The Car Wash investigation, or "Lava Jato," commenced as a "probe into money laundering, but incrementally expanded to cover allegations of widespread corruption" at state-controlled oil company Petrobras. Execs may have accepted billions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks "in return for awarding contracts to construction firms at inflated prices, according to the investigation." Chapter 26 of Lavo Jato, called Operation Xepa, is investigating bribes with the active involvement of Marcelo Odebrecht, "who has been imprisoned and convicted, in relation to the construction of Sao Paulo’s World Cup stadium, the Arena Corinthians." The state-of-the-art venue in the northeast of Brazil’s biggest city hosted the World Cup opener between Brazil and Croatia in '14. The bill for the stadium’s construction "bloated" from a provisional $356M to $513M. The federal police detained Brasileiro side Corinthians VP Andre Luiz de Oliveira to testify. He received €121,000 ($135,300) in bribes, according to the public ministry. Former Corinthians President and Congressman Andres Sanchez said, "We are the victims" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 3/24).
