Petrobras chief and other senior executives resign

The head of Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras and five senior executives have resigned in the wake of a huge corruption scandal.

Maria das Graças Foster's departure follows the arrest and testimony of some three dozen executives at Petrobras and many of its suppliers.

The board of Petrobras is due to meet on Friday to elect new executives.

The scandal involves alleged price-fixing, bribes and kickbacks, which implicates Brazil's ruling party.

Prosecutors have uncovered around $800m in bribes and other illegal funds. More than 200 businesses are being investigated and more than 80 people, including three former executives from Petrobras, are facing possible charges.

Petrobras shares soared 16% on Tuesday on rumours that Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff would sack the chief executive. The shares jumped a further 8% on Wednesday on confirmation of the resignations.

Corruption

Petrobras is one of the largest oil businesses in the world with interests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The illegal activity, the authorities allege, diverted anything from $3.7bn to over $28bn from Petrobras assets.

Ms Foster has said publicly that she offered to resign when the corruption scandal broke, but maintains she did nothing wrong.

The scandal has also damaged President Rousseff, a former chairwoman of the company's board of directors. She has denied any knowledge of corruption.