Embezzlement

The Panama Papers is a global investigation into the sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world’s rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions.

Based on a trove of more than 11 million leaked files, the investigation exposes a cast of characters who use offshore companies to facilitate bribery, arms deals, tax evasion, financial fraud and drug trafficking.

In 2014, an investigation began into allegations of corruption at the state controlled oil company Petrobras. Allegedly a number of top executives accepted bribes in return for awarding contracts to construction firms at inflated prices