The Efromovich brothers, ex-owners of Avianca, were arrested in Brazil.

According to Brazilian media, brothers Germán Efromovich and José Efromovich, former owners of Avianca and owners of the Eisa – Ilha shipyard, were arrested in São Paulo on Wednesday morning, as part of Operation Lava Jato.

According to CNN, the two are former owners and current shareholders of Avianca Holdings, but the company does not appear in the investigations, as does OceanAir, the airline they own.

The investigations indicate that the two businessmen were involved in corruption schemes at Transpetro in relation to shipbuilding contracts signed by the state-owned company with the Ilha shipyard.

The businessmen allegedly offered bribes worth R$40 million (US$7.2 million) to senior executives of Petrobras and Transpetro. The events occurred between 2008 and 2013, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF).

The illegal actions caused Transpetro to lose more than R$611.2 million (US$111 million), according to the MPF.

The arrest became house arrest, according to the G1 media, and the “corruption and money-laundering scheme worked, according to the MPF, through the signing of contracts for the purchase and sale of ships by Transpetro with the shipyard through the Federal Government’s Program for the Restructuring of the Brazilian Naval Industry, known as Promef.

The contract would have been concluded without taking into account the consultancy studies which indicated that the shipyard would not have the appropriate technical and financial conditions for the construction of these ships.

The newspaper La República asked Avianca if the arrest would have an effect on the company and they indicated that it would not, since Efromovich left the Board of Directors of the airline and his shares are in the hands of United Airlines, since the businessman broke an agreement.

The Lava Jato case is considered the biggest anti-corruption operation in Brazil’s history, but it has also spilled over into Latin America.

By José González Bell – La República