RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Aldemir Bendine, former CEO of Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras, on Tuesday formally denied charges for corruption.
He was accused of taking bribes from Brazil's construction company Odebrecht.
Odebrecht, Latin America's largest construction conglomerate, has been found to have paid out millions of dollars in bribes to politicians across the region in exchange for public contracts.
Bendine was arrested in late June and has been put in a preventive prison ever since to prevent him from destroying evidence and coercing witnesses.
If Bendine is found guilty, he may be sentenced to over 25 years in prison. The prosecution office will also request that the alleged bribes of 3 million reals (949,000 U.S. dollars) Bendine took should be returned to Petrobras.
