The multi-billionaire founder of Microsoft has launched legal action against oil giant Petrobras as well as the Brazilian arm of big four accountancy, PWC.
Bill Gates’ charitable foundation and WGI Emerging Markets fund claims the scandal-hit oil giant misrepresented its operations and financial situation when it raised billions of dollars from investors in what the litigants claim represented a “massive fraud”.
The suit also alleges that Pricewaterhousecoopers Auditores Independentes “endorsed the integrity” of the oil firm’s financial reports.
The damages that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and WGI are seeking have not been disclosed.
The corruption scandal dogging Petrobras, the largest company in the southern hemisphere, is estimated to have cost the firm $2billion.
Last week, the former treasurer of Brazil’s ruling party, Joao Vaccari, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking bribes in the scandal.