Rolls-Royce has been accused of involvement in a multibillion-dollar bribery and kickback scheme at , Brazil's state-controlled oil producer, as more foreign companies are dragged into the country's largest corruption scandal.



The British engineering company, which makes gas turbines for Petrobras oil platforms, allegedly paid bribes via an agent in exchange for a $100 million contract as part of a scheme in operation during much of the past decade, according to testimony from a former Petrobras executive.

Pedro Barusco, the Petrobras veteran who has emerged as one of the investigation's key informants, told police he personally received at least $200,000 from Rolls-Royce — only part of the bribes he alleged were paid to a ring of politicians and other executives at the oil company. The admission was buried in more than 600 pages of documents released by Brazil's federal court system this month, detailing the testimonies of Mr Barusco who struck a plea bargain in November.



Responding to Mr Barusco's accusations, Rolls-Royce said: "We want to make it crystal clear that we will not tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to ensure compliance."

The accusations come as Rolls-Royce also faces a Serious Fraud Office investigation in the UK over allegations of bribery and corruption in China and Indonesia. They also come as the company is undergoing a painful restructuring, revealing its first fall in underlying sales in a decade and predicting a bigger than expected fall in profits in 2015.