JPMorgan is the target of an investigation related to an oil bribery probe in Brazil. Officials hope to identify a potential connection to a money laundering scheme dating back to 2011 involving Brazilian oil company Petrobras.
Brazilian federal police are currently working to determine if the banking giant purchased shipments of fuel at artificially lowered prices through a series of bribes made between a network of middlemen and Petrobras representatives, Reuters reports.
Authorities have focused on 300,000 barrels of Petrobras fuel oil purchased by JPMorgan in 2011. Other evidence includes email messages, witness testimonies and bank records.
Supporting court documents include witness testimony from former Petrobras fuel trader Rodrigo Berkowitz.
Though no charges have been filed against JP Morgan, investigations are ongoing.
In 2020 the company admitted wrongdoing to manipulating precious metals and treasury markets and paid over $920 million in penalties, Reuters reports. A similar case was reported in 2013 when it paid $400 million to settle allegations of manipulating power markets in California and the Midwest.