BRASILIA (Reuters) - The former chief executives of major Brazilian builders Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] and OAS Empreendimentos SA (OAS.UL) could strike plea bargain deals with prosecutors in the Petrobras probe, newspaper O Globo reported on Tuesday.
Marcelo Odebrecht and Leo Pinheiro are discussing the possibility of collaborating simultaneously with Brazilian authorities investigating a bribery scheme that involved state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the newspaper reported, citing a source close to one of the executives.
Odebrecht has been in jail since July on suspicion of corruption and Pinheiro is under house arrest. Both could seek lighter sentences if they agree to a plea bargain deal.
Odebrecht and Pinheiro are some of highest-profile executives ensnared in the probe, with links to politicians, mostly from the governing coalition, according to prosecutors.
Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo last week reported former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could be named by Pinheiro in a possible plea bargain testimony. Lula was briefly detained for questioning on Friday.
Spokeswomen for Odebrecht and OAS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Plea bargain deals are strictly confidential until the testimonies are collected by prosecutors and accepted by a judge.
The strategy has been widely used in the sweeping corruption investigation that threatens to topple President Dilma Rousseff. Economists said uncertainty generated by the probe has helped to deepen Brazil's worst recession in decades.