RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, on Thursday agreed to pay a fine of 853 million U.S. dollars to end the corruption investigation against the company.
Petrobras, which is also Brazil's largest company, said in a statement that the fine payment was agreed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice.
By paying the fine, Petrobras will avoid potential litigation over corruption on U.S. territory.
With the payment, both SEC and the Justice Department say that the company's corruption was carried out by directors and officials who no longer work there and that the company was the victim of corruption.
"The company will recognize a provision 853.2 million U.S. dollars," Petrobras confirmed.
Eighty percent of the amount, some 682.6 million U.S. dollars, will go directly to the Brazilian federal prosecutors, who will have to allocate it to be used in social and transparency projects.
The remaining 20 percent will be split evenly between SEC and the Department of Justice.
The agreement came almost five years after the launch of landmark "Car Wash" investigation by Brazilian police to probe corruption in the country.
The investigation revealed a huge international network of corruption, implicating current and former presidents and high-level politicians throughout Latin American nations.
At the start of the year, Petrobras also agreed to pay more than 2.9 billion U.S. dollars to American investors, who denounced it for damages caused by acts of corruption.
