How foreign companies took part in corruption schemes in Brazil

For the past four years, Operation Car Wash has revealed how some of Brazil’s biggest companies have bribed elected officials in order to win contracts from the public administration. Now, we are beginning to find out how international companies have used the same methods to prosper in Latin America’s biggest economy.

Last week, the operation’s branch in the state of Rio de Janeiro targeted giants of the health sector, such as Philips and Johnson & Johnson. Both companies are suspected of being part of a major fraudulent scheme to siphon money from the state’s trauma institute. They overcharged for prosthetics and other equipment, with part of the proceeds going to the pockets of dirty politicians.

The “international bidding group,” as the association of foreign...