Brazilian police arrest Efromovich brothers over bribery

Brazilian police have arrested and detained Germán Efromovich and his younger brother José over allegations the two were involved in a mass money laundering and bribery racquet. According to Reuters, prosecutors accused the brothers of laundering money and bribing public officials in order to land ship-building contracts with Transpetro, the logistics unit of Brazilian oil company Petrobras. A judge said there was reason to believe that the two had created a corporate structure in Brazil and abroad to launder some BRL610 million reais (USD111 million) in public funds. He deemed them flight risks and ordered they be detained under house arrest and banned from leaving the country. The Efromovich brothers grew up in Brazil, with family origins in Bolivia and Poland. Germán Efromovich is also a Colombian citizen. The siblings control a majority stake in Avianca Holdings through their Panama-based vehicle, Synergy Aerospace, and had also controlled bankrupt OceanAir (previously Avianca Brasil) through their Brazilian holding firm, SPSYN Participações Ltda. They initially made their money through contracts with Petrobras and other oil companies in Rio de Janeiro, using the profits to buy Avianca Airlines (AV, Bogotá) out of bankruptcy in 2003. Avianca Holdings declined to comment.