Brazilian court seizes Rousseff assets over Petrobras refinery deal

Brazil's federal audit court has frozen the assets of former president Dilma Rousseff over "irregularities" in the 2006 purchase of a Texas oil refinery by state-run company Petrobras.

The order by the TCU, as the court is known, also included assets belonging to former Petrobras CEO José Sérgio Gabrielli, ex-finance minister Antonio Palocci and three of the energy firm's directors.

According to the official news service Agência Brasil, the one-year freeze comprises assets whose combined value could cover losses incurred by Petrobras in the deal.

Petrobras paid US$360mn for half of the Pasadena refinery in 2006, around eight times the value outlaid by previous owner Astra Oil when it acquired the facility a year earlier.

Over the next six years Petrobras invested a further US$800mn in the 112,000b/d complex, including the cost of buying out Astra's remaining 50% stake.

"At first glance all these circumstances could point to a management mistake or [bad] decisions.... but deeper assessment of the facts indicates intentional mismanagement in order to cover up embezzlement," judge Vital do Rego said.

Rousseff was impeached last year for manipulating government accounts ahead of her 2014 election victory.

She has denied any wrongdoing over the Pasadena deal, despite chairing the Petrobras board of directors at the time of the negotiations.

In 2014, Rousseff told investigators that she was given incomplete information by directors who signed off on the acquisition.